update

We have been pretty hot here lately. I can't stand this unseasonable heat. It's fine in the summer, but April? No thanks. Everyone is hot, hot, hot.
Harrison and I are winding up his school year. I think I've only got a week left, I still have to add up our days. The state requires a certain number of days for us to complete. Harrison doesn't know this, but we will go over the required number of days. We actually will do something every week until school starts again. But rest assured it will be a very relaxed and fun schedule. I mainly want to keep on top of our reading.
Last Friday our local police had us over for a field trip. I loved it, and the boys did too. They were a little disappointed that they didn't get any jail time like they were promised. I didn't tell them that the reason most likely was that there was someone already in there! They did however, love the sirens. I asked them both what they loved and they both replied, "turning on the sirens."
Audrey is doing great too. She sleeps well some nights and not so well other nights. I wish I knew the reason. I am trying to plan her baptism. It will be a small family affair. I just need to figure out what to serve. I was so upset that we couldn't baptize her until May. It turns out that the church baptism schedule is booked two months in advance. The benefit to not being available until May? We are baptizing her on Mother's Day. :) I can't imagine a better day.

blog of the week #2

Ok all of you children's book lovers, here is a wonderful blog dedicated to picture books. A group of illustrators post to this blog. I love it! Enjoy. :)
Picture Book Junkies
eta: this is more about the illustrators and their wonderful artwork then it is about books. (I love their artwork!) It is still enjoyable, but if you want to read about children's book reviews check out this blog: chicken spaghetti

yum!

A couple of Saturdays ago my sister took my niece and her friend to Fashion Island out in Newport Beach. I guess you could say that it is an upscale outdoors mall. The best part about it? They have a Sprinkles Cupcakes and I happened to put in a request for a couple of cupcakes while they were out there. I chose the red velvet and coconut. Let me tell you, they didn't last long! My favorite was the coconut. The cake was delicious. Now, I'm not much of a frosting type, this was good but maybe a little too sweet for my taste. That didn't stop me from eating it though. ;) There is usually a line out the door to get cupcakes, and they aren't cheap. My sister told me that it wasn't too bad, but they were also there on a very hot day. My first choice was carrot but that is not available on Saturdays. So, I guess another trip is in order. Oh darn.

This salad is an oldie but goodie. I remember eating this at my mom's house and getting tired of it because she made it a lot. I had forgotten all about it, then my sister made it for us a little while ago. It tasted so good! It is very easy too. I don't use the green bell peppers because I know that I am the only one who would eat them. I made this last week when it was unseasonably hot here. Give it a try!

Chicken Salad Habanera

1 1/2 cups boned, cooked chicken, in thin strips
1 cup California ripe olives, sliced
1 California Avocado in crescents
1/3 cup green pepper strips
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
2-3 TBSP, pimento, thin strips
4 cups lettuce, shredded

Dressing
1/3 cup salad oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 TBSP Sugar
1 TSP salt
1/2 TSP Pepper
1/8-1/4 tsp, fresh garlic

Combine ingredients; hold aside avocado. Cover and chill.
Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well.
Refrigerate. Just before serving add avocados,
shake dressing, pour
over salad. Toss lightly; serve on bed of lettuce. Serves 4

blog of the week #1

I have come across some pretty amazing blogs in my online pursuits and thought I should share them here. So I have decided to try and list a favorite every week.
Here is one I just found, and it's gorgeous! I found it during my search for jewelry inspiration on Flickr. Don't get mad at me if an hour passes you by. ;)

Creature Comforts

scrapbook challenge**updated with photos

Hello! Michelle and I had so much fun with our last challenge, we decided to do another one. I had Michelle come up with the challenge this time and boy, did she deliver. Here are the rules from Michelle:

1.Find some pretty jewelry. Check out flickr or etsy or your own jewelry box!
2. Get inspired and scrapbook! Maybe you're inspired by the colours, or the shapes, or the beads, or the sparkles. Maybe you'd like to do a layout about your favourite earrings!
3. Post your layout on your blog or twopeas or wherever you like to post your layouts and then come back here and tell us where we can see it.
4. Let's try to have it done by next Sunday, April 20th, but feel free to post it earlier or later.
Here is some Flickr inspiration for you:

1. Sweet Heart Pendant, 2. Domed charms, 3. It's hard not to keep these., 4. hessonite garnet clusters, 5. Harlequin, 6. Santa Baby,, 7. Handmade Murano Pendant, 8. Ruby In Oval Silver Necklace 1 of 4, 9. Swarovski AB Cubes, 10. Vintage glass white bellflower earrings in shiny sterling silver, 11. Old World Charm - Checkerboard faceted cushion cut AAA garnet & sterling silver filigree link earrings - oxidized, 12. De-stashing - turquoise beads, 13. Dance With Me Necklace, 14. Poppy with gold centre ring, 15. Old Algiers Earrings, 16. Rumour's Amethyst cocktail ring, 17. LaValiere, 18. Vintage Bunny and Carrot Necklace, 19. Gold heart hoops, 20. Birds on a wire Necklace, 21. Labradorite pendant on aquamarine necklace, 22. Felted-Bead Necklace, 23. Kinshasa's Necklace, 24. C365 / 228 - Cupcakes and Sailboats, 25. Manzana


Won't you join us? :)

I also posted this challenge at, "My Crafty Escape" and will post my layout there.

our park day and a birthday "treat"

This past Monday we had a date with my friend Darcee and her little boy Charley to go to the park. We have been trying to get together for over a month now, but sniffles and soccer have prevented it from happening. Well we finally picked a date and I loaded up all three and headed over to the park. What happened? She forgot! I really can't blame her, it has been quite comical trying to nail down a time to meet and we were always focused on Fridays, so I threw things off when I suggested Monday. So, we will try again. Well, after we arrived and I got in touch with her and realized that we were on our own, of course I decided to stay. I couldn't very well tell the boys that we were going back home. And you know what? I survived. We had a good time and it was a beautiful day. You can see how Audrey spent most of her time.





That beautiful carnation sundae was given to my mom for her birthday. Isn't it neat and clever? I love the idea, I just had to take a picture of it. I love the white carnations {whipped cream} at the top. Enjoy!

Robert is back at work, no more working from home. It has been an adjustment for me. The beginning of the week was rough but I actually feel like I can handle it. I really relied on him a lot while he was here, so it's good for me to figure out how to manage on my own. It was a lovely 3 months! :)

Have a great weekend.

happy birthday mom/grammie goose! :)

Love, Jenny, Robert, Harrison, Charlie & Audrey