Yeah. This looks real inviting.

I guess I won't spend this afternoon on my porch after all.

My favorite room in our house . . .

. . . is outside our house. Oh, I love my porch! I sit on it in the summer evenings when the street is quiet and just enjoy the breeze. With an Arnie Palmer on my side table and a great book or magazine, I can really enjoy the simple pleasures of life.


So, come on over. Take a walk up my sidewalk,


pull up a chair and sit with me. You are all invited.

Nearly done with the CranioCap!

Amelia had her 11-week appointment for her CranioCap today. The therapist thinks its done all it can do, so now we can phase out the cap by having Amelia wear it only overnight. No more daytime! I think that will be so nice for her since the weather will be getting warmer. She has her final appointment on May 9. See how excited she is?


Mira had her Kids in Motion class today. They brought out the parachute, which is always a bit hit with the kids. Other than that, a rainy day. Hope you are all well.

New recipe: Honey Pecan Pork Chops

I'm a big magazine reader. And I have this habit of tearing out any recipe that looks like it might be an interesting meal or dessert for my family or for any get-together, like my monthly Bunco night or one of my book clubs. So today I was looking in my cookbook cupboard and saw this huge pile of ripped out magazine pages and online recipes I had printed out. Obviously, once they left the magazine, the recipe never really made it as far as my oven or stovetop. I decided to put an end to that today. I'm now on a mission to cook or bake one new recipe a week in an effort to cut down on the clutter these pages have created. If you know me, you know I hate clutter.

I'm happy to say my first recipe was a huge hit and can now officially be entered in my cookbook. It was so good, I had to share it with you:

Honey Pecan Pork Chops
You need:
4 boneless pork chops, pounded thin
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge pork chops in mixture until completely covered.
Melt butter in a frying pan and add the pork chops. Brown on both sides, transfer to a plate.
Add the honey and pecans to the pan drippings. Stir well until heated through.
Pour mixture over the pork chops. Delicious!

No photos to post. We did take the kids to the park and even remembered to bring the camera, but the battery was dead. Bummer!
Michelle

Cold weekend

What a bummer weekend! Cold, windy, crappy. It was me and the girls, and we were pretty sick of the house by this afternoon. Mira did take the opportunity to go outside and play on the deck a little:



And here are a couple of cute photos from Easter of the girls with their Easter bonnets. In the first one, Mira looks a little over-excited, while Amelia just looks really annoyed.


Oh, how I wish this one wasn't blurry!

Hope you all had a great weekend. We are really looking forward to spring officially coming and staying! We'd better enjoy the slow pace of April because May is a crazy month for us: Our 7th wedding anniversary, Amelia's 1st birthday, Mother's Day, Mira's 4th birthday, Memorial Day. Tiring! June will be a welcome month!

True story.

The following events actually occurred as I have written them.

Chris: Mira, what do you want for dinner?
Mira: Broccoli. Just broccoli. Broccoli, please.
Chris: So, what else besides broccoli?
Mira: Nothing. Just broccoli.

Ever wonder how I do it? Well, 2 teaspoons olive oil and a little minced garlic into a saute pan. Add broccoli. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add a little chicken broth to soften just a touch. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt. It's a recipe I serve at least twice a week. Also works great with sugar snap peas.

Now your kids will ask for broccoli too!

Random stuff

After a nice lazy weekend, I thought I'd post a few happenings.

I finally got a photo of Amelia's upper tooth. It's a good 1/2 way through, so she's trying more solid foods now.


We also got the go ahead to start Amelia on whole milk. Connie at her daycare tried it for the first time today . . . no go. Amelia was not at all thrilled with the change. Maybe it was the temperature. We're going to warm it more and see what she thinks, or we'll try some bottles of 1/2 milk, 1/2 formula and see what that does. Either way, she'll be on whole milk completely soon. Here she is showing her exitement!


Chris's dad came by yesterday to visit. He read books to the girls, which they love!


And here's a photo of our "hockey girls!" They both were very interested in the hockey stick Chris was taping.


I think Amelia has taken a strong interest in my stability ball. I've been exercising with one lately, so Amelia did a "move" with Mira's hippity-hop.


Hope you are all well!

2 kids + 2 ear infections = 4 crabby people

Uggh. BOTH Mira and Amelia have ear infections. Amelia was tugging on her ears the past couple days, and last night Mira woke up and said her ear hurt. I took them to the doctor this morning and, yup, both had ear infections. They are both on a 7-day course of antibiotics.

We used the money we were going to use for my sister Kelly's birthday present on copays and medicine instead. Sorry, Kelly! Maybe next year . . .

Two more teeth on the way!

It looks like Amelia has 2 more teeth on the way! Her two bottom teeth are starting to poke through. She's nearly 11 months old already, crawling like crazy, and pulls herself up to a standing position on furniture. It seems like her motor and physical skills are growing by leaps and bounds lately. She even signs "more" now when she eats.



And, for some reason, it suddenly seems like she "gets it." Do you know what I mean? She smiles at things she didn't used to smile at, like she's just now making the connection. It's a wonderful thing to see!

Hey, blue eyes!



Mira is doing great too! She's really loving all the things she's been learning in day care and always comes home with a new story or fact to share. She's discovered audio books and listens to "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham" before bed. Trust me, you haven't really heard "The Cat in the Hat" unless you've heard Kelsey Grammar read it to you. I found a great version on iTunes. It's worth the $2.95 I paid!