What did I do to deserve this? It's 5 o'clock and the girls are playing nicely, the music is bumpin, fritatta is in the oven, and I have a gin and tonic in hand. I even went through the trouble of adding a twist of lime.

School is awesome. in NTR 142 we we made froccocia bread. Other groups made: snicker doodles, cornbread, cream puffs, Indian flat bread, apple muffins, and biscuits. There went my carb intake for the day! Hence the crustless fritatta that's in the oven. I took pictures, because it's rather pretty, but of course I don't have the camera or lighting to make it look as good as it does in person.

Anyways... My other class, NTR 300 is going well too. I hope to be done with my website by Monday. Here is the link. http://www.public.asu.edu/~eacorn/. I've really enjoyed doing this. Meal planning is my favorite!

As I write this, I am being treated to a play Junie B. Jones style. Zoe is being a good sport and I'm glad they have stopped terrorizing Jax long enough to play something else.

I'm going to get this lapotop off my lap so I can clap. These girls are fantastic actresses ;o)

Our new Kitten: Jax

We are the proud owners of a 5 month old, once feral and once-returned-to-the-shelter-kitten. We saw him a week a go, but didn't know if he would be a good fit at our house since his name was Denis the Menis. I went back this weekend and I held him and he was so sweet. A few hours later he was ours!

We went through all the names and Kayleigh even went to CatNames.com (!) all by herself to help name the little guy. We finally decided on Jax. Jax has been wonderful. Just the right amount of playful and a whole lot of good with the girls.

The girls love him so much. Jax must love them too because he sure is good with them.

Broccoli Salad with Recipe 

This is very much a made up recipe, so feel free to give and take on the measurments.

5 broccoli florets, chopped


4 slices bacon, crumbled

3 Tablespoons red onion, diced

½ cup dried cranberries or raisins

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Mix everything together and meld overnight.

Cooking with Acorns

Here we are... Cooking with Acorns!

The girls enjoyed snaping beans for me. They enjoyed eating them raw too.



Broccoli Salad



Green Beans with Bacon and Onion



picture taken on my parents back patio

Ahh it's hard to get motivated this morning. I'm really enjoying having a whine-free household all to myself. Hopefully this newness wears off soon because it's hard to leave the house to get to the gym.

Well, I'm going to finish up my cup of coffee and get back to homework :)

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Family Vaction to Greer, AZ

 Last weekend we made good on a groupon that we were supposed to use this summer, but couldn't due to wildfires in the area. Greer, AZ is really on the road to no where. The population is only 177! But I'm sure the population can more than double in the summer and during ski season.

 We stayed at the Greer Lodge Resort in the Log motel rooms. Their amenities were included in the price and included: kayaking, fly fishing, mountain bikes, telescopes, games, DVD's, and a nightly camp fire.  

 We really enjoyed the two hikes we went on (except Zoe got tired at the end of the first). The first one was by a creek where we met a few people with lots of fish!

 The girls loved the dandelions and the wildflowers. They spent lots of time picking, collecting, and blowing. It was getting to be a bit overwhelming when they wanted to pick every flower they saw so we had to explain to them that we should leave some in the ground because they are living things and other people may want to look at them... Anyways... it was really cute and I was happy to see them running freely and enjoying nature.

 We brought the rain boots just in case, but we didn't find any puddles.

 This was my first time in a kayak. I prefer a canoe.

 The second hike was a bit more challenging. It was lovely to smell the pine and listen to the wind blow through the aspen (reminded me of cottonwood trees at clear lake), and hear the creek in the background.

 Yes, we were so happy to see ponds that we took our picture by every one we saw!

 And what they don't tell you in the brochure is that it's so nice to sit out on the porch drinking beer and wine while the kids can move freely from the room to the outside. Also there is a bar on the property right next door to the hotel rooms with cheap drinks and a patio where you can look at the ponds, mountains, and your kids playing.

Gosh, I, we had such a nice time. I want to go back with my Dad and Katie sometime because they would love it as much as we did. I loved it as much as I love going to back to SD/ND/MN. It made my soul happy.

first days of ballet

Th girls started ballet this week. Different days at different locations. At least the time is the same ;o)

 Zoe was especially excited as it was her first time to experience ballet for herself.



Fun little Zoe story... She was playing with the water table at school and apparently didn't think it through before soaking herself with water. Good thing she had a change of clothes as her dress and leggings were as wet as if she had went swimming. Her change of clothes consisted of shorts and a t-shirt. Poor thing itched herself until she bled. Her teachers were so worried about her skin. I hope she grows out of this skin thing soon!

an update

Whoa! It's been a while. Sorry, sister!

Let's see... September has been crazy. On the 2nd, we found out that Dave's younger cousins were in a car accident. They had been drinking and a brother killed a brother. Completely sad. My heart goes out to Dave's Aunt and Uncle and the 2 surviving brothers.

With that being said, please don't ever forget how fortunate you are every day and hug your loved ones extra tight!

We celebrated Dave's birthday with Dinner (to his favorite spot, Kona Grill) and a homemade lemon cheesecake. (I keep trying to get him to take it to work so it's not in the house. ugh!)

Zoe ordered Sushi (!) and Kayleigh a hamburger. They ended up splitting the fries and K eating the sushi and Z eating the burger. HAHA! And Zoe finally got to go to preschool! She was so excited. We ended up switching preschools a week before it started. I think we made the right choice. So far so good!

Zoe was really really excited. We talked about what we would pack in her lunch for about 2 days prior. She told me that she would suprise me by eating all her lunch and cleaning up her toys. She was happy to report that she did in fact to both. You can see that she was a little nervous at first... Today when I dropped her off a nice mom said that Zoe and her daughter made quick friends. And guess what? Her name is Kate! :)

Kayleigh has been doing awesome at school. She was having a bit of trouble with math at first, but she works at it everyday and actually wants to do math now! I'm very proud of her for working hard at it. She also started Chorus one day a week before school.

As for me, all my free time has been spent on "stumbleupon," (OMG addicting!) homework, and working out. I saved up my $$ to work with a trainer and it was the best money I've spent on myself. It was strength training... I would feel so strong and awesome after I was done, but would be so sore the next day I couldn't imagine doing cardio so I have to figure out how to balance it all.

Classes are awesome! Way better than Chemistry. Every time I open a textbook I get excited. I know with all my heart I am on the right path. I live and breathe for this stuff! In one class I am learning HTL to make a website. Here is the link http://www.public.asu.edu/~eacorn/ it's just in the beginning stages so check back later for more updates.