I love finding things that I quickly realize I can't live without. Here's the latest.....
These are made by Crocs and are the comfiest, lightest shoes I have ever worn! I love that they are so bright and cheery. They also come in yellow, green, purple, blue, orange, and other fun colors and patterns too! Adam got me hooked on them after he bought a pair. Don't worry, his are much "manlier" than these and are a tan color (although don't think for two seconds he didn't want the sky blue ones, but I thankfully was able to talk him out of them!). Now if only I could find them in the kids' sizes!
I HAVE to share this recipe for vegetable lasagna because normally, I would not think this was nearly as yummy as it is. I found it in some parents magazine a couple of months ago and thought I'd give it a whirl. Since it doesn't contain meat, I just knew Adam would make a comment about it "missing something". To my surprise, he loved it! Even Hayes gobbled it up and we've made it several times since! I made it just yesterday for my sweet friend Elise who just had a baby girl (adorable Adele) last week. Hope they enjoy it as much as we have!
Ingredients:
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 red, orange, or yellow pepper, chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 jar pasta sauce
- 8 lasagna noodles (we use whole wheat and you can't tell)
- 1 carton ricotta or cottage cheese (depending on preference)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
1. Prepare zucchini, pepper, and carrots and put them all in one big bowl. Add 2 tbl water, cover, and microwave for 2 minutes, then drain.Add the spinach and set aside.
2. In a 9x13 dish, layer 1/2 cup sauce, 4 noodles, half the veggies, half the ricotta, 1 cup sauce, then 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat with 4 more noodles, remaining veggies, remaining ricotta, 1/3 cup mozzarella, and the rest of the sauce. Top it with the remaining 1/3 of the mozzarella and cover with foil.
3. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Monday, June 7, 2010
So, I know I mentioned in my earlier post that we had recently had our laundry room redone, but I wanted to elaborate on the process. For those of you who haven't seen it before we made the improvements, I've added some "before" pictures to help you appreciate the "after" ones a little more.
As you can see, it was about as bad as a room can get and an eyesore from the moment we saw it. From a popcorn ceiling with a patched up crawl space entry to flimsy wood paneling, this was clearly a do-it-yourself kind of renovation on the cheap. The vinyl flooring had been literally eaten by something (long before we moved in thankfully) and the wire shelving was ridiculously ugly and ineffective. The light fixtures were shiny brass and faux crystal, yet were probably the nicest thing in the room. Nearly five years ago when we bought the house, I assumed it would be the first room we tackled. But somehow, other rooms gained priority and the laundry room sat untouched for all of this time. Part of the rationale was that no one ever saw the laundry room. I mean, when you visit someone's house, how many times do you see their laundry room? The other argument was that for so long, it was the dog's room. Sadly, it contains dogs no longer and there was finally no legitimate excuse for its pitifully outdated state.
Now that we're on one income, renovations are pretty much a luxury, if not a far-off dream these days. So, I began scouring the internet and ended up entering three different laundry room makeover sweepstakes. Adam kindly humored me by videoing my pleas to "pimp my laundry room", but alas, they went unanswered. Fortunately, my hubby knew just the thing to make this gal feel loved on Mother's Day and that's how we ended up with this.....
It's nothing fancy, but it sure feels luxurious to me! I never thought I would enjoy doing laundry as much as I have over the last couple of weeks, but I swear I find myself making up excuses to go in there. I jump at the opportunity to iron a pair of moderately wrinkled shorts! I run to the dryer when it buzzes to begin folding the clothes. Strange, I know, but very, very satisfying. We should have done this years ago......
Sunday, June 6, 2010
We're so excited that summer is finally here and hoping to squeeze in lots of fun, friends, and family in the next few months! So far, we're off to a great start....
Mothers Day this year was extra special now that our little family is finally complete. We spent the day at Lovie and Papa's house with Aunt Lala, Uncle Andrew, and cousin Greer. There is nothing better than watching the little ones play together, even as young as they are. Adam and I both have such fond memories of playing with our own cousins as children and know that they'll enjoy it as much as we did in the years to come.
My Mother's Day present was the best ever.....not diamonds, not a spa treatment, or a shopping spree either.....a new laundry room! Who'd have guessed that something so unglamorous could make a girl feel so special? If you've seen it pre-renovation, you know what I mean. No more dog-eaten vinyl floors, paneled walls, or wire shelving. I'm completely in love! Thanks Adam, Gray, and Hayes for the best Mother's Day gift ever!
It definitely overshadowed the 8" of water we found in the den the weekend before, which ruined our wool rug and left permanent water marks on our leather couch. Not a fun thing to wake up to in the morning, but we know so many others had it so much worse in other parts of the region.
Last Friday, we had a great time at Zoo Brew with our good friends, the Higdons, and enjoyed what was probably the nicest night (weatherwise) that we'll have all summer. If you've never been, it's a great event, especially if you like beer. I was a little underwhelmed by the food, but the people watching and music were great. Unfortunately, we had to head home at an earlier hour than we wanted so we could leave early the next morning for our first family vacation. Trust me, we were glad we went home when we did....a 9+ hour car ride with 2 little ones would not have been a great combo with a hangover. Even after getting a DVD player installed in the car and filling a bag with Dollar Tree treats and munchies, Hayes still fussed the majority of the way. Gray, on the other hand, couldn't have been easier and stayed glued to the movies, furiously shoving Scooby Snacks into his mouth the whole way there. As it turns out, poor Hazey had an ear infection, which we learned only after visiting the Destin Urgent Care facility a few days after our arrival. But after a day on a Z-Pack, she was back to her old self for the most part and we were glad to have our sweet bird back. Hayes had an otherwise wonderful time in Florida and loved the sand, the pool, and having her Lovie, Papa, and P there to love on her. We are convinced that she was waiting for an audience because while we were there she started walking! She's been standing for a few weeks on her own and even taking a step or two at a time. But, now she's officially a walker and we can already see we've got our hands full with her!
In typical Gray fashion, he threw us for a loop and hated the beach from the instant he saw it. He cried when his feet touched the sand, screamed when he went into the seaweed-filled water, and begged to go back to "Mempis" on a regular basis. We were convinced that over time his fears would vanish and he would learn to love the beach that his Mommy and Daddy grew up visiting, but no such luck. All I can say is thank goodness for the pool. We went at least once a day and he adored every second we were there. He loved his puddle jumper and how independent he could be with it on and had so much fun jumping into our arms from the side. I'm still not giving up on the beach with him, but I know now that we always have to have a pool wherever we stay just in case. We had so much fun watching the ships and fish come in at the docks at the end of the day, getting ice cream at the famous Kilwin's, breakfast at the Donut Hole, and seafood almost every night. But most of all, we loved reminiscing about the things we did when were kids at the beach and knowing that one day our kids will look back and do the same. Here's to reliving old memories and making new ones!
