playdate and a choo-choo puzzle

love our weekly playtime with these kids!

buddies!

gram's not here every week, but we sure are glad she was here this time. 
thanks for being the photog!

after playdate... a little work on the abc train puzzle. 
once it's put together,  you know it's pushed around and driven like a train.  :)

cars, trains, and lots of blue fingers

the mall (with gram, of course)

 

supper at braum's with gram!

one happy boy with his gram

one happy girl with her ketchup 

funny thing is, she didn't like the fries.

rain, rain, go away

my 2 munchkins weren't as happy to see the rain as i was.  they were a little worried about gram coming on this afternoon, and wanted to know if they could still play outside with her.

it stayed around a bit longer than i'd have chosen, but we had fun splashing around for a few days.

at least...

...i got some of my favorite flowers, a card, and a sweet treat.  but, i'd rather have the boy at home this week. 

good thing we have gram with us (more pictures to come, i'm quite sure!).

sausage and lentil stew (for the freezer)

i tore this recipe out of a rachael ray magazine (october 2011 issue), and here's a link to the same recipe.  i actually followed the recipe pretty closely this time, but you know i have to something different.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb sweet italian sausage
1 onion, quartered so it's easier to pick out since we like its flavor but not eating it
3 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz lentils, rinsed
4 c chicken broth
2 bunches kale, coarsely chopped
parmesan cheese

in large pot, brown meat and drain. 

heat oil in pot, and add onion and carrots. 

cook 3-4 min., or until softened.  add garlic, lentils, broth, and 3 c water.  bring to a boil, then simmer 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender. 

stir in kale and sausage.  cover and cook until kale is wilted and sausage is warmed. 

serve with cheese.

this is mostly for the hubby to take for lunch, because soups work well for lunches and because it didn't really sound very good to me.  :)  but, he tried it and gave it the go.  i put most of the batch into containers, added the cheese on top, and stuck them in the freezer!

freezer burritos

when things are hectic and busy, i often wish there was a quick meal waiting for us!  i've been wanting to get some meals made and into the freezer so they'd be ready for those busy evenings, cheaper than going out, and healthier. 

so, i spent some time with google, and we found a few recipes for me to try.  this recipe will probably end up getting used for a lot of lunches, but we need quick options sometimes then too.  :)

this bean burrito recipe from martha stewart is where i started.  hers sounded good, but i hate using 3 T of something from a can and then wonder what to do with the rest of it.  so here's my take, and this makes 24:

1 c (unprepared) rice
1 can tomato paste
1 t ground cumin
1 t garlic powder
3 lb dried beans, cooked per package directions (i use 1 pinto, 1 navy, and 1 black) OR 9 cans rinsed and drained
16 oz bag frozen corn
24 burrito size flour tortillas (these should come 8 to a package)
6 c cheddar or colby-jack shredded cheese
2 16 oz jars salsa

cook rice per package directions. 
stir spices, tomato paste, salsa, and corn into beans.

fill tortillas with 1/4 c rice, almost 1 c bean mixture, and 1/4 c cheese.

fold up burrito style, and wrap in foil. 

place on baking sheet, and freeze on the sheet.  (can be removed and placed elsewhere in freezer once completely frozen.)

decided to try these out instead of putting the whole batch in the freezer, so i heated up the last few cups of bean mixture.  they were tasty, although not very spicy, so you might want to add additional salsa, sour cream, avocado...

time to eat outside again

and, aren't we glad! 

look at those cute lil spaghetti faces and remember that we have very light carpet in our dining room.

another hurray for springtime!

home sweet home

i saw this idea on pinterest, and decided i would try something similar. 

woooohooooo for actually doing something i pinned!!

Source: scrapstudio.tumblr.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

it's been in progress for quite a while, but it was fun to work on a letter or 2 whenever i had a chance.  a few letters in progress:

crayons are my ever-trusty keep-the-project-off-the-table-holders so i can paint the edges.  u likey?

this is the back of a letter that didn't have a hanger.  a nicely placed staple works perfectly for these light little guys.  i used this lil trick on several letters.

mod podge is one of my favorites!  you *might* be able to tell by the end of this post.

used sponge daubers to apply ink from a stamp pad over the tape, and then a quick peel leaves white lines.  and the ink blended together to make a nice smooth finish as it dried - added bonus!  no marks show from the sponge.

more mod podge!

since hanging them up, i've moved them around a few times...

yes, i'll fill in all those extra nail holes when we repaint, but for now they fit in just fine with the 3,563 left by the previous owners. what's a few more?

feels great to have something up on the wall, and i love the mismatched feel!

linking up today for:

via bower power and young house love.

check 'em out!

a warm spring day, & a couple new plants

wordless wednesday

spring has sprung!

when we got back home last week, several signs of spring greeted us:

this one's in our front yard.  and, those weeds are no longer there.  we pulled them just for you, gram.  :)

the only time of year when there's enough rain to see green grass and a bit of standing water.

daffodils in a pasture

LOVE this time of year!!