Playing in the rain

I have a ton of memories of me and Aimee playing in the rain as children. When Isabella asked to put on her new rain boots, I said "Why not". We are still potty training, and not always dressed appropriately which explains her ensemble.

She entered the puddle with a little trepidation, but was splashing around in no time. She had so much fun, I had a difficult time getting her back in the house.

I often forget how lucky I am to be able to enjoy these sweet moments with my girls.

Fort Wayne: Trip + Day 1

Thursday afternoon I picked Isabella up from school, Tim from work, and we set off on our trip to Fort Wayne, IN. What is in Fort Wayne? One of two of the sweetest ladies I know, Betty Dorton (Tim's grandmother)
. Abigail and Isabella both slept for the first two hours, so it made for a really easy stretched. We made it about 5 hours to Williamsburg, VA where we tucked in for the night. We had a difficult half hour there where I had to sit between the girls, which was the inpitus for us waking up at 4am to hit the road. Around 7:30 we stopped at Craker Barrel, and found oursevles in Fort Wayne, IN by noon. Tim & I did pack the DVD and several hours of entertianment, but didn't have to use it once. We have good little travelers, at least for now.

Tim walked down to pick up Grandma Dorton and bring her to our apartment, made available compliments of Heritage Park, the seniors center where she lives. Isabella had been talking about Daddy's Lita (nickname for Grandma) the entire trip, so she anxiously awaited her arrival. To our delight, she and Abigail took to Great Grandma without any problems. These two sweet pictures were worth every mile we tracked up there and back.

Two homeruns in the kitchen.

I am not sure what got into me today, but I used the girls nap time to get dinner ready. I had taken out a pound of ground beef, so I gravitated to a pasta dish. After a little Internet searching I found this recipe: Baked Pasta. Tim liked it so much he asked if we could make a regular dish in our home. I did make a few changes (mainly due to not having the right ingredients): I didn't have enough sour cream so I added table cream to make the cup and a half, nor did I have provolone so I used Swiss/American slices, and added spinach, onion and garlic to the beef mixture. I also divided the recipe into two and froze the other for next week. It honestly was the best pasta dish created in my home, by far. The second home run was my Strawberry Pie. We had some left over strawberries from Publix and those we picked this weekend, so I made Tim a pie. I had to find a recipe with ingredients I had in stock or could easily bug my neighbors for (thanks Trez for the butter). The strawberry pie I grew up with had fresh strawberries, so transitioning to cook was an adjustment. I must say aside from the texture, it was stinking good. I didn't want to make a real crust so I used a graham cracker crust, and made the mistake of crumbling some left over crumbs on the top (which contributed to the burnt pieces on top). Regardless, I will make it again in a heartbeat. Also important to note that if you make this, do not empty all the leftover flour/sugar/starch mix into the pie crust...just discard.

Picking Strawberries

On our way to the ranch early this April we noticed a strawberry farm was opened for business. It happened to be their first week. What a treat!!!

Isabella loved picking and eating her strawberries.

I could not believe how delicious fresh strawberries taste. It will be hard going back to regular store bought strawberries. We have already processed our strawberries into jam, so we will now have a little reminder of their sweetness throught the year. I am ready for blueberries in July.

Isabella feeds Abigail

Running out of things for us to do, I figured we could feed Abigail together. The meal of choice was corn & butternut squash, and Abigail took it like a champ. Isabella knew just what to do: scoping out the baby food, opening her mouth to get Abigail to do the same, and put it in her mouth oh so gently. Mommy couldn't be prouder.

Spagetti Squash

Do you now how spagetti squash got his name? I do...because when it's baked it shreads like spagetti. I found a recipe on Food Network.com for Cheese and Pepper (Cacio e Pepe) Spaghetti Squash, and must say it was quite tasty. When I make it again I will make sure my EVOO is extra light, the taste was a bit too strong. I wish I could say that Isabella loved the cheesy squash, but that was not the case. In fact it set off one of the biggest fits we've had at the dinner table. Looking back, I doubt it had anything to do with the squash more like she was stuffed with snacks and had no interest in eating dinner.

Sometimes I wonder what we're doing wrong, but thanks to all the great mommies I have in my corner I realize that she's just a normal toddler. All we have to do is stay strong and consistent and she'll be fine.

Isabella's & her big girl bed

Earlier this week Isabella made her way out of her crib, indicating to us that she's ready to move on. Here she is helping daddy screw in the guardrail to her crib.

When we tucked her in, Tim asked her if he could get in and she said, "No Daddy your too big". She's growing into such a smart and precocious little girl. I can't believe we're here already, but God willing this is just one of many milestones to come.