Baby Boomers

You must eat here. Now!

I dare say it's the best (diner) breakfast in town. We're all painfully and happily full. It reaffirms my dream to have a diner someday. Or a bakery. Or both.

All Lined Up.....

This little boy is a funny one.

These are all current situations in our house. I do not kid.

Is this a normal thing? Is it a boy thing? A 2 1/2 year old thing? Or a ......... weird thing? Maybe a bit of everything. But now that I see all the pictures together it kind of creeps me out a bit. :)

So sometimes I am not near as cool of a mom as I think I am and my master napping plan fails. But then I get to share some one on one time with little Harper and who doesn't love that?

Her personality reminds me so much of Henry. Such a happy little girl and so quick to smile.

I know. Killer rat tail, huh?

Tuesday

I have a daily goal of getting Henry and Harper's afternoon naps to coordinate with one another. It's been successful most days and the last 3 days they've both slept for 3 hours at the same time. I love it! Of course it helps to wear them out constantly so they are beyond exhaustion.

We had a marvelous play date today! The kids played in the water and in the yard the whole time while us ladies got to talk. I wish I would have remembered the camera. The kids were having so much fun! Well, as long as Henry wasn't getting wet, he was having fun. I need to somehow teach that boy that getting wet and dirty can be a good thing. One of my friends is due with her first baby shortly so we were talking about new mommy things. It makes me miss the anticipation of labor and those first few weeks of having a newborn. Harper is only 3 1/2 months old and I already miss it!

Weeks like these I almost feel guilty for having so much fun being a stay at home mommy while RJ has to go work. Thanks, babe.

I've been in a major cooking mood this summer and am loving finding some new, healthy recipes. A new recipe I'm going to try this week is Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers. But of course there are still those oldies, but goodies. I've made this chicken salad so many times, and may have already posted it, but here it is again. I love it!!

Chicken Salad
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning (I don't have any, so I leave it out and probably will never add it since it's yummy without)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 cups diced, cooked chicken breast meat
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 cups diced Swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups halved grapes
I'm sure almonds and pineapple would be a great add-in as well.

Mix all together and, of course, is best on a croissant. *Update* The apple and carrot salad I posted last week is amazing and I've already made it twice. It is so good!! I think it will become one of those dishes I make that will be a "this again?" kind of thing because I want to make it again already.....

Hope you're all having a lovely week!

Picture time...

Where's Harper?

On the way to her dedication. She's got some big eyes, eh?

Henry got a nice gash on his forehead during Sunday School.

Sick little boy got breakfast in bed this morning. He insisted I take a picture of his feet.

Just when I think Harper looks so big, I look in her room while she's sleeping and she looks so small.

She's been rolling on to her back, but I still haven't seen it. She'll just be lying there when I go in to get her. Already keeping secrets.

A few recipes I'll be trying this weekend.....

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette

Ingredients

2 pounds medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 ears corn, husked (or frozen kernels)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped( I may leave this out....I don't care much for cilantro...maybe parsley instead?)

Chile-Lime Vinaigrette, (recipe follows)

Directions:

In a large pot cover potatoes with salted cold water by 1 inch and simmer, covered, until just tender, about 15 to 30 minutes, depending on size of potatoes. In a colander drain potatoes and cool to warm. Cut the potatoes crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Prepare grill. In a small bowl whisk together the oil, cumin, salt and pepper. Brush both sides of the potato slices with the oil mixture. Brush the ears of corn with the remaining oil mixture. Grill the potato slices

for 1 minute per side and transfer to a large bowl. If necessary, the grilled potato slices can be halved or quartered into bite-size pieces at this point. Grill the corn for 3 to 4 minutes rotating once a minute and transfer to a plate. When the corn is cool enough to handle, remove the kernels with a sharp knife. Add the corn to the potato slices. Add the red bell pepper, scallions and 1/4 cup cilantro leaves. Pour half of the dressing over the vegetables and gently toss to combine. Add the remaining dressing and carefully stir again. Cover and let stand for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to combine. Sprinkle with remaining chopped cilantro.

Chile-lime vinaigrette:

6 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon chile flakes

1 teaspoon toasted ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sugar
Directions:

Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients. Yield: approximately 2/3 cup

*I am so excited about this recipes! I adore sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries, sweet potatoes on the grill, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar.....

Apple and Carrot Salad

2 large apples, 1 red and 1 green, cored, thinly sliced, cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, or less to taste
3 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks (or the pre-cut ones)
1/4 cups chives, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, or more to taste
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
*I'm trying this salad to go with a grilled pork loin. Can't wait!*


Henry woke up with a fever the last couple of days and I took him in to the doctor yesterday and he has strep. Poor boy! He's actually been acting pretty well though and today at noon he'll no longer be contagious. Thank goodness babies can't get strep so I don't have to worry about Harper! They've both been up by at least 6 all week. Oy. That makes a mamma tired.

RJ left at 5 this morning to go to Waterloo where his grandma is having surgery to remove a tumor at the base of her brain. She has very aggressive melanoma. She had surgery to remove some from her lungs a couple of months ago, but now it's back in both lungs, her blood, and her brain. Please pray for her!

Have a Happy 4th of July!!

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Go here to get a FREE download of Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love, during the month of July!!
It is seriously some goooood stuff.

Life here has been pretty slow and almost a little boring leaving me not much to blog about. Henry and Harper have been doing awesome-ly these past few weeks.

One camera has a dead battery and I can't get pictures to download from the other one.

So that's my story. Have a great week!