Blog
professional & personal journal
Zucchini Boats with Burger and Rice
Wondering what to do with that giant basket of zucchini that your neighbor brought over? Or did your little experimental garden suddenly grow overnight like a Little Shop of Horrors remake? That's what mine did - it's taking over my fence and trying to swallow my...
How to build a loft bed and win your daughters heart
It was time. As I tucked Grace into her toddler bed one night and she stretched out I noticed that there was 2, maybe 3 inches left before she would touch top to bottom. My first thought was (obviously): What the??? When did you get so TALL? Stop growing already!!!...
What does a person with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) actually SEE?
When describing Retinitis Pigmentosa to people I have an easy, canned answer. I say that it's a degenerative eye disease and how the first to go is night vision and peripheral vision. Then I say it's like looking through a cone or having tunnel vision. Like this: I...
Easy, Delicious Peanut Butter Dip
I love Peanut Butter. No, I mean I really, really love it. One might say I have a teensy weensy obsession with it. Apparently the addiction is contagious in my house. We put it in our oatmeal, sometimes in cereal (hey, don't judge..you know you're weird too), on...
My Unintended Birthday Present
It was my birthday this past weekend. I will proudly, with no qualms tell you that I am now 31! And then ashamedly admit my lie and confess that I'm actually 36. Sigh. Moving on. My Mother in Law had the 'big kids' for the weekend so Jared and I, with just Luke in...
Grace needs grace
It's one of those days. I'm tired. It makes me vulnerable and I swear Grace can sense it. She's disobedient. Acts like she doesn't hear a word I'm saying and when she finally responds she's as flip as a full blown teenager. But she's 4. My new punishment of choice...
Mango Cucumber Salad
I'm still an old fashioned 'pinner'. In my spare time (chuckle) I tear pictures and recipes out of magazines and 'paste' them in a pretty little notebook. Recently I tore a page out of Real Simple that gave a bunch of yummy ideas of what to do with a mango. This...
And just like that…
The boy eats solids. Two nights ago we finally fed Luke his first solids and he ate like a champ! I don't know why I doubted, perhaps because Jack had this reaction when we first started solids: http://youtu.be/V8nH6rwT0ak He shuddered. He retched. He gagged, for...
Kathy
The other day Grace found a ladybug in the backyard and promptly named her Kathy. She excitedly walked over to show Grandma Jenean and I and immediately we thought uh-oh, I think Kathy has gone to meet her Maker. "Grace, I don't hink Kathy is alive anymore." Without...
Our pretty little Victorian gets a makeover
I'll never forget the first time we 're-painted' this house. We were under contract and the GC remodeling the house told us we could pick out the colors if we wanted. I was thrilled! I headed to Home Depot and hemmed and hawed and used my color coordinating...
Bunny Butt Cupcakes
There is an abundance of Easter treat cuteness on Pinterest (as I'm sure you all know...come on admit your addicted). I stopped cold though when I came across these from Created by Diane: No brainer, these are the winners. This past weekend we threw an early Easter...
Aunt Jann’s Coconut Macaroons (gluten free!)
I happened to marry into a family of amazing cooks (no pressure), one of whom is Jared's Aunt Jann. She recently sent out several of her recipes to the family in order to gain some feedback for a cookbook she intends to write and I was lucky enough to receive a...