One afternoon we had a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ Pot-luck on the best hill in our community. We roll down it in the summer and use it for sledding in the winter! I love all the candid shots that Rebekah caught this day (even though it was high sun!)
In April, my friend Rebekah stopped in to visit us for a week on her 3 month tour of the USA. I knew Rebekah and her fabulous family when I was growing up in England I'm sure glad that I got a chance to reconnect with someone so amazing 15 years later!
As an added bonus, Rebekah has her own photography business that she does on the side. I happen to think she has an amazing eye for detail and have enjoyed viewing her photography blog for a while. She was so gracious and kind to take hundreds (maybe 1000's?) of pictures of our family while she was here. I wish I had taken a picture of her HUGE camera. It took a while to get used to it following us around--I really felt important!!! The next several posts are dedicated to the cute and memorable moments that she was able to capture for us and that I will always treasure.
I completely forgot that I had uploaded Easter egg pictures to a post a month ago....and never posted it. That's what I get for becoming a seldom-blogger!
I'm always checking cook books out from the library and flipping through them as I watch kids play. Once in a while I find a real winner that gets added to the family recipe book. This one was gone far too fast and I'm still craving it...I may have to make it again this week! (and the best part is the low-cal info at the bottom--eat up!)
Cabbage Soup with Italian Sausage ½ lb bulk sweet Italian sausage 1 medium onion, peeled and diced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 2 carrots, peeled and diced 4 cups firmly packed shredded green cabbage 5 cups chicken stock 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained 1 pound redskin potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite size pieces 2 Tbl chopped parsley 1 tsp Italian seasoning ½ tsp salt, or to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking up lumps with a fork, for 3-5 minutes, or until sausage is browned. 2. Add onion, garlic, and carrots to the pan, and gook for 3 minutes until onion is translucent. 3. Add cabbage and cook for 2 minutes until it begins to wilt. 4. Add stock, tomatoes, potatoes, parsley & Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil then reduce to low and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes. Add salt & pepper
Info: Yield: 6 servings Prep time: 20 mintues Prep time with cooking: 45 minutes
160 cals 31 from fat 3.5g fat 1g sat fat 9.5g protein 25g carbohydrates 674mg sodium
...Now you don't! (I'm going to miss all those perfect, tiny baby teeth!!!)
Hayley survived a whole year of kindergarten and most of her first grade year thinking that she would "just die" if she didn't hurry up and lose a tooth soon! Poor kid. It's tough to be the last!
This is the tooth fairy pillow I made when I was a kid. Amazingly I still have it in my memorabilia (thanks mom!) It was fun to pull it out and show it to Hayley. Plus the idea helped us pass some time during the looooong week of waiting for her tooth to go from "loose" to "out"!
She even got to learn a little about using a sewing machine even if she was crazy excited and silly! The finished product!
And the adorable note that she wrote to the tooth fairy (I remember writing one that was almost exactly the same...it just made me so sad to give my beloved tooth away!)
...that Alice spends her days and nights with my purse on her arm. ...that Alice is responsible enough to check that my wallet, keys and cell phone are all in the purse (no tricking this kid!) ...that I have to ask my 2 year old for my credit card when we are at the store. (If I even think about getting it myself, from the purse on her arm, she lets the world know that her space is being violated. So the store clerk and I wait patiently while she finds the right card and allows me to use it, as long as I return it right away!) ...that my little shadow loves to be stylin' by wearing my sunglasses even if they are just used as a convenient headband while mom squints into the sun. ...spends her days pacing the house with a notebook and pencil--no-doubt making endless to-do lists! ...doesn't forget to lodge the cell phone between her neck and ear and has pretend conversations with plenty of laughter as she writes in her notebook (what a multi-tasker!) ...that there is always a fingerprint on the camera lens and very few pictures to be found these days that are taken from my vantage point!
I should be flattered...and it's much easier to remember that since I went out and bought a new purse!
In April, my friend Rebekah stopped in to visit us for a week on her 3 month tour of the USA. I knew Rebekah and her fabulous family when I was growing up in England I'm sure glad that I got a chance to reconnect with someone so amazing 15 years later!
...Now you don't!
Hayley survived a whole year of kindergarten and most of her first grade year thinking that she would "just die" if she didn't hurry up and lose a tooth soon! Poor kid. It's tough to be the last!
This is the tooth fairy pillow I made when I was a kid. Amazingly I still have it in my memorabilia (thanks mom!) It was fun to pull it out and show it to Hayley. Plus the idea helped us pass some time during the looooong week of waiting for her tooth to go from "loose" to "out"!
She even got to learn a little about using a sewing machine even if she was crazy excited and silly!
The finished product!
...that Alice spends her days and nights with my purse on her arm.
