Be My Valentine

We had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day this year.  I think it is quite possibly becoming my favorite holiday.  It's definitely one of my top three: Christmas, Independence Day, and Valentine's Day.  We're also starting to have a few traditions with Valentine's Day.  For me it's all about showing love to my family.  And one fun way to do that is to make food in the shape of a heart.  For breakfast this year, I made heart shaped pancakes with heart-ish strawberry slices for the little miss before school.  And after I got her off for the day, I made the full meal for my valentine who was still snoozing away.  I think he enjoyed waking up to the smell of bacon and coffee. :)

We also made some time for reading valentine's from our friends and family.

For lunch, we joined the little miss in her kindergarten class for a valentine party.  We dined on hotdogs and root beer and had some valentine treats.  Then we watched and helped her open her valentines from her classmates.  That was a really fun time and we're glad that all 5 of us were able to spend it together.

Here she is with some of her friends from her class.

For dinner, I continued the heart theme but branched WAY out from previous years.  For the last two years now, I've just made a pizza in a heart shape.  But this year, I challenged myself by making homemade heart shaped cheese ravioli.  The kids loved it.  Of course, they love cheese and spaghetti so it's not too surprising.  And I was pleasantly surprised that, albeit a little time consuming, making homemade pasta isn't all that hard.  I do think that I'll need a pasta maker/sheeter attachment for my kitchenaide mixer the next time I want to do this though.  Making it "by hand" really made it a "labor" of love.

After dinner, we sent the kids on another valentine tradition of ours--a photo scavenger hunt.  Earlier in the day I went around the house taking pictures of different spots in our home.  We then printed them on our home printer and set up the hunt.  Some of the pictures were pretty obvious like this one, 

But then others I tried to make trickier.  Like this one,

They truly know our home, because they only hesitated on one picture.  When they got to the last hunt spot, they found three little packages, each with a valentine treat.

We hope you had a great Valentine's Day giving and receiving love to those you hold dear.

The Moose--Full Circle

1 1/2 years after his historic moose hunt, the antlers from Shawn first moose have been mounted on the wall in our home.  Shawn has been working on this, his first taxidermy project, for several months now and we all think he did a great job.  (photo above taken September 2009, below February 2011)

The moose antler mount project has ignited some sort of taxidermist switch in my darling husband and he's already working on his next project--his caribou from this fall.

This was the scene in my backyard this past fall after Shawn got his first caribou on his annual moose hunt.  Yes, you read that right.  He went on a moose hunt with his brother and came back with a caribou.  Both animals were in season in the area they were hunting this year, but you could only have a tag for one or the other.  Shawn had the caribou tag and his brother had the moose tag.  As it turned out they never saw any moose, but on one of their last few days they found a group of 8 caribou crossing the road in pairs.  (Don't worry no animals were shot from the road and all fish and game regulations were followed).  Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Yeah, what other group of 8 caribou that travel in pairs do you know?  Mmmhmm.  Those belonging to a certain St. Nick, perhaps?  If that's so, then...*sigh*...my husband murdered Blitzen.  I know it was Blitzen because he shot the last caribou out of the last pair.  And we all know, thanks to Clement Moore, that Blitzen is the last reindeer in the line up.  So I guess if you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas this year, it might be my husbands fault.  Sorry to rat you out, dear. :)

But in all seriousness, Blitzen will soon be looking for a home on my wall.  And as often as my husband likes to go hunting, I feel like we're going to be running out of wall space VERY soon.  I remind him often that it's a living room not a museum of natural history.  He usually just smiles at me.  So yes, I'm doomed. :)

5 Months

It seems his photogenic side came out strong in this photo shoot, or maybe it's just his little personality blooming.  Such a happy boy and on a sunny day too!
During his 5th month he continued to work on his rolling skills and could do a couple of rolls in a row.  The first stages of mobility...dadada (insert horror music)!  So far so good.  He's still a sweet boy and quite content.  Not quite sitting up yet, but close. Not sleeping through the night, but only wakes up once and is pretty quick to get back to sleep. 
Enjoy the 5 month pictures--I got a lot of good ones this time.  It helps to have a newer, better camera.

Not sure what was happening in this picture, but it looks cool!

 with the doggie--no longer peacefully sitting beside him.  He must pull all things into his grasp.

 profile pic

 "back off big bro...give me some space"

Just kidding, he loves his big brother and sister--and they LOVE him.

 Ready for school.

"Yes, you, young man in the front with the green tractor shirt."

 Also happy on his belly...or his back...or well, anywhere.  He's just a happy baby!  Which makes for a happy momma.  What a blessing he is.

4 Months

Even though this little one is already 6 months now, I wanted to update the blog with his monthly photos.  I took these back in December when he was 4 months.  During that month he started rolling back to front.  He also started scratching himself like crazy.  We think he may have signs of eczema and is dry on his forehead causing him to scratch himself.  We try to keep his nails trimmed and his forehead moisturized, but he still often has "signs of a struggle" all over his forehead.  Oh, well...
So the 4 month pictures with not so much light outdoors.  Remember this is Alaska in December...translation, dark and cold.  Good thing we have this guy to keep us smiling!

With his doggie...getting bigger.

Crispy Coconut Shrimp

Have you ever had a recipe bookmarked to make for a REALLY long time without ever having the chance to make it?  Well, I have!  I've had this recipe for Crispy Coconut Shrimp bookmarked for approximately 1 year and 5 months!  That just also happens to be when our good friend Ben came up for a visit from the flat lands of Kansas.  And it also happens to be the last time we had fresh shrimp in our house.  Shawn took Ben out for an overnight fishing and shrimping adventure and they came back victorious. 

 (Oh, Ben! You really must come visit again--you and your whole family.)

When they returned back to our home, I started pouring over recipes on the internet to find something worthy of the fresh shrimp they had caught.  I found several possibilities, but another recipe won out the popular vote that night.  So this recipe sat and waited...and waited...and waited.

Fast forward to last week.

Shawn went out on another adventure, this time to check traps and shrimp and crab pots with some work friends.  The good news is every trap and pot they checked had something in it!  So he again came home with some delicious shrimp.  I immediately knew that I wanted to try the coconut recipe that had been waiting so patiently for me, but I had to do a little arm twisting to keep Shawn from putting them into his own recipe.

The following night I made Crispy Coconut Shrimp and it was DE. LI. CIOUS!  It was worth the wait, but I really don't think I'll be able to wait another year and 5 months to have it again.  I just might have to buy some shrimp at the store.  (gasp!)

Whether you've got shrimp fresh from the Alaskan waters nearby or from the grocery store I highly recommend this recipe.  It's a keeper!

(Note: We didn't make the Spicy Curry Sauce from the recipe to accompany the shrimp.  So I can't necessarily recommend that part of the recipe.  We used store bought sweet and sour sauce with our shrimp and rice.  Also the next time I make this, I'm going to remove the tails before cooking.  I think it will make it easier to eat with utensils--preferably chopsticks!)

Five Months x 3

Having 3 kids now, we of course get a lot of comments about how much our little babe looks like his older siblings.  Most people say how much he looks like his brother.  True they definitely look like brothers but I think he looks a bit more like his sister.  Although he definitely has his own look--especially with brown eyes instead of the blue eyes of his siblings. 
So I thought I'd dig up some photos from "the archives" and show you each of our three kids when they were about 5 or 5 1/2 months old.

Here's the little miss (baby #1) on a plane ride.  She was a well seasoned traveler before she even turned 1!

The little man (baby #2) on Easter Sunday.

 (Can someone say chunky monkey?)

 And our little babe (#3) on some January days.

So now that you are thoroughly informed on how they looked at the same ages, who do you think most resembles the other?  (Oh and please use nicknames or #'s in your comments.  I try to not use the kid's first names on the blog for security reasons.)

Chocolate Marshmallow Whoopie Pies

So has it been long enough?
For those of you who made a new year's resolution to eat better, has it been long enough that I can post about these delicious treats?  Yeah, I figured so. :)

Exactly two days into the new year and "eating better" resolutions for many people, I brought Chocolate Marshmallow Whoopie Pies to our monthly potluck at church.  Despite their timing, they were a hit!  I think the next time we have a dessert auction fundraiser, I need to bring these because they just might earn a pretty penny for the cause.

I got the recipe here, but it originally came from Martha.

For some time now I've seen recipes for whoopie pies and even watched a whole Bobby Flay Throwdown episode about them.  So making them was definitely at the top of my list.  But these were actually my second time making whoopie pies.
A few weeks before Christmas, Shawn informed me that he had signed "us" up for a cookie exchange at work.  All we had to do was bring 7 1/2 dozen cookies into work in four days (from when I was informed) and then we'd come home with a mixture of cookies to enjoy/share with friends and neighbors.  A nice idea, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have time for such things.  I was a bit annoyed to say the least that my husband had signed "us" up for this exchange.
Without the option of backing out, we decided on a seasonal version, a pumpkin whoopie pie with cream cheese filing.  I was excited to make them even though it meant making180 cookies to get 7 1/2 dozen whoopie pies.  The night before the cookies were due for turn in, I was cranking them out, but fading fast.  I let Shawn know that I was going to call it a night, make the filling, assemble and deliver the finished cookies in the morning--after I got myself and 3 kids ready to go mind you!  (crazy!)  I don't know how I thought I was going to do this, but I was pretty sure I couldn't stay up any longer to finish the task before sleep.  When I woke up in the morning, I was alarmed to find the kitchen table bare of all the cookies I had baked the night before.  I actually went into a moment of panic.  Then I realized that there were other changes in the kitchen from when I had gone to bed--different dishes in the sink, etc.  I threw open the fridge and found the finished pumpkin whoopie pies all packed up and ready to go.  Sometime around 4 am, when Shawn had gotten home from work, he finished them for me.  What a guy!  He knew how overwhelmed I was getting that week and how the cookie exchange was just a bit too much for me.  So as it turned out "we" did participate in the cookie exchange.  And I'm very glad, because I couldn't have done it by myself.

The classic Chocolate Marshmallow Whoopie Pie just might be my favorite.  However, I've never tried Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.  That recipe is now on my list. :)

Hello 2011

Have you made any resolutions or goals for this new year?  Well, I've made a couple.  And I figure if I share them here on the blog, I'll feel a bit accountable to you (my readers) to keep up with them throughout the year.  There's always hope right!? :)
One things for sure is that none of my goals for 2011 involve dismissing scrumptious foods.  All desserts will be welcome in my home and particularly those made with chocolate.  But all in moderation, of course.

 (more on this lovely chocolate dessert in coming posts-yum!)

I suppose my main goal for 2011 is to do a better job keeping our home organized.  One way I plan to do this is to focus on one area each month.  Thanks to my husband for this plan of attack.  For January, my first thought was to start small so I could accomplish the goal and not fall flat the first month.  But then our plans changed and we've found ourselves in the midst of a fairly large reorganizing project.  When we complete our project, I hope to blog about it to show you what we've done.  For now, I'll just say that it involves spending some Christmas gift money and several clear storage totes.  Good thing they were on sale last week!

Another goal for 2011 is to spend more time reading to my kids and to do more preschool style projects at home with our little man.  So far I'm doing better in this area too, but I know I can do more.

I also want to spend more time in the Word and praying this year.  This is an area I can always use growth in.  I'm sure many of you have goals similar to this.  It's one of those things that you can always improve on.

And lastly, I want to gain some more photography skills and do a better job taking pictures, especially of my kids.  So far I'm off to a great start, thanks again to my husband.  He heard my pleas and for Christmas he got me a new dSLR camera body!  YAY!  I've REALLY been enjoying using it and can already see an improvement in my photos just with better equipment.  But I still want to learn more and do even better.

Here's a couple of quick samples of what I've learned so far--adjusting the white balance on my new camera.  It also helps to have a cute model posing for shots.

Hope your new year is off to a great start.  What are you planning to accomplish this year?