Yucatan Marinated Chicken

My friend, Kendra, continues to inspire me to try new things...except brussel sprouts of course.  I copied this from someone at Hannah's Prayer last fall and stuck it in my cookbook.  I pulled it out last night when I was making my menu for the next few weeks.  I grill a lot of chicken and am always looking for a new marinade or flavor to try.  I made it tonight and it was wonderful.  I'll definitely make it again.

Yucatan Marinated Chicken

In a ziploc bag mix:
juice from 1 lime
juice from 1 lemon
juice from 1 orange
(or I guess you could use concentrate that you might have in your fridge if you didn't have the real deals)
1 clove chopped garlic - or 1/2 tsp if you buy it already chopped in a jar like I do :p
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breast (I cut them in half so 6 pieces - the picture is deceiving)

The marinade recipe was actually doubled, but since I was only cooking 3 chicken breast, I halved it.  Increase it accordingly.  Marinate several hours in the fridge and then grill.

Full Service at Toyota

My check engine light came on Monday afternoon so Caden and I packed a bag of stuff and headed to Toyota Tuesday morning for them to check it.  I"m really impressed with the dealership.  It's nice and clean.  They always have a pretty arrangement of cut flowers in the bathroom - it's the little touches that make a difference.  Caden and I have a schedule whenever we are there.  We normally spend the first 30 minutes playing in the playroom (cool new toys - exciting!) and then head to the showroom to climb in and out of all the cars. We still laugh about the time Caden accidentally hit the horn in a big truck and get everybodies attention.  He's careful now with the steering wheels.  The "manicure stations" were open yesterday, so while I was getting the oil changed and car checked out, I got a manicure.  It wasn't just a quick fingernail painting.  It was the whole works complete with a 5 minute hand massage.  Next, we hit the popcorn stand that was popping fresh popcorn and got a hotdog from the hot dog stand.  Did I mention full service?  I flipped through a few "current" magazines and found trhee recipes to copy.  The salesmen were very nice and helped me when the copier jammed.  I was copying a recipe for Bang Bang Shring (a copycat Bonefish recipe) and a salesman asked if I liked to eat there.  He gave me coupons for two free bang bang shrimp appetizers at Bonefish Grill.  Our anniversary is a few weeks away and I know where we are going!  So...in all, I spent $40 to have the car worked on and the oil changed and I got a manicure ( about $25), 2 Bonefish coupons (I'm guessing about $25) and lunch for me and Caden ($5).  Now it wasn't the healthiest of lunches, but we weren't starving while we waited.  I think it was well worth our time to hang out at Toyota yesterday for 3 hours! 

Strawberry Pie

My friend, Kendra, started a cooking blog a few months ago.  All of her recipes that I've tried have been really good.  She posted her mom's strawberry pie recipe last week.  Strawberries where on sale at the grocery store this weekend so I bought the ingredients to make it.  I goofed up a little and grabbed strawberry banana jello instead of strawberry, but the glaze tasted really good...probably not quite as "strawberry" as Kendra's. 

Pretty, pretty strawberries

I cheated on cooling the glaze.  She said to cool it to room temperature before pouring it over the strawberries.  I didn't have a lot of time so I after I simmered the glaze, I put it in a glass bowl over ice.

 Pouring the glaze over the berries

I over filled the pie crust just a tad.  I don't think anyone will mind. 

After 2 hours of chillin' in the frig...

This was supposed to be dessert after dinner, but Caden and I couldn't wait.  We had it with our lunch and it was amazing!  Thanks for sharing you recipe, Kendra!

Sew Crazy

After the success of the last 2 pair of shorts, I took Jaelyn to the fabric store and let her pick out more material.  My favorite are the denim shorts.  I think they are adorable, if I do say so myself.  I added 2 inches to the length so hopefully they'll last 2 summers.  Allie's dress gave me a few issues.  It took me the better part of the afternoon.  I was so happy when I sewed the finishing ruffle on the bottom and so mad when I realized I sewed it on the wrong side so it was wrong side out.  Ughhh...I have one more top to make for Jaelyn.  Then I think I'll have all my crafting urges out and be ready to start cleaning my house again.

Jaelyn's Waist

Jaelyn is super skinny. I didn't think it was possible, but she's skinnier than she was last year. The shorts that fit her in the waist are too big this year. If she didn't mind the waist of her pants/shorts resting on her hips, it would be okay, but she's picky. She says she likes to wear her pants like Grandma Molly...way above her belly button. We tried Caden's shorts on Jaelyn and while they fit in the waist, the inseam is too short because of how high she pulls the shorts. We had the same problem with pants this winter and I spent hours hunting for pants that fit her. Instead of going on the great shorts hunt, I went to Joanns and bought material and a pattern today. I'm making her shorts. The first 2 pair cost $3.50 each, because of the pattern, but the rest will be under $3 each. I found a simple pattern and spent about 3 hours sewing today. I enjoyed it and I think I've finally figured out the tension on my sewing machine. It was sewing very nicely by the end. It's only taken 13 years to get there (shake your head and roll your eyes with me).

Scroll, Scroll, Scroll

I've gone blog crazy today.  Sorry I've been ignoring my blog.  Lots of topics have obviously been floating around in my head though.  Keep scrolling till you hit the end.  : )  There's a lot to read!

Spring is Springing Towards Summer

The beginning of last week, we had to dig out our heavier coats again for 40 degree weather in the mornings.  This week, we've had to dig out our shorts and tank tops.  It's quite a quick transition, but I am loving the warm weather.  I especially love seeing my plants coming alive.  Unfortunately, not all of them made it back from our harsh winter.  My sweet smelling lavendar is gone.  I'm hopeful my jasmine and hibiscus will bud out soon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Today, Caden and I bought yellow lantana for our front walk, a huge fern for the front steps and yummy strawberry plants.

Buds from the purple tree in our front yard.  I have no idea what it's name is, but I love it's light pink flowers.

Baby black eyed susans - we bought 2 almost dead 1 gallon black eyed susans the summer we moved here from the last chance table at Home Depot for $1 each.  They came back and have spread and multiplied.  I have baby black eyed susans in all of our flower beds from my original $2 purchase.  They are so pretty all summer long.

Another rescue from the almost dead table at Home Depot - stella de oro day lillies.

I am fascinated by my clematis vine.  It looks like a jumble of dead vines during the winter that should be cut off and thrown away and then in the spring, new growth sprouts out from the dead, dried up vines and produces beautiful, vibrant pink flowers. 

The perfect spring teacup!  If I were a garden fairy, I'd drink my tea from hydrangea sprouts.

My hosta row - a friend dug them up out of the woods behind her house.  What started out as 2 small hostas are now a row of 5 medium hostas.  They are so pretty and lush in the summer. (please ignore the need for new mulch - that's next week's project)

My future pears!

Swinging

My New Favorite Toy

Dan bought me this tripod for Christmas and this was the first opportunity I've had to use it.  I love it!

Buzzed

I started cutting Caden's hair with clippers when he was a baby...probably 15-16 months old.  Lately, Dan's been taking him for some father-son bonding time because my clippers had been doing a bad job.  Caden likes going to the barber with Dan, but at $12 plus tip a time, it's kind of pricey, especially considering I can cut it as well, if not better than them.  Caden tells me the reason he likes going is because they have a cape and I just wrap a towel around his neck.  Well, I bought a new set of clippers today and they came with a cape.  Caden sat very still and let me cut his hair.  I think I do a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.  Now, what can I spent that $12 on every 6 weeks : p?

Happy Birthday, Allie

On Tuesday, Allie turned 7.  How she's 7, I still don't understand, but she is.  It seems like just yesterday that we got the call telling us our travel dates to meet Jaelyn and that a baby girl referral was on the way for us.  Allie is my happy child.  She makes me laugh constantly.  She's smart and funny and and has the sunniest personality.  I can't imagine my life without her and I thank God everyday for giving her to us.  We are the luckiest parents in the world to get to be her Mommy and Daddy!

We baked cupcakes for Allie and Dan got home early just as I was finishing up the icing.  We ate our cupcakes and opened presents in the afternoon and then took Allie to her favorite place, Ruby Tuesdays, for dinner.  It wasn't very busy and the waiter was wonderful.  They apparently don't sing at RT, but they made an exception for Allie.  They sang to her and brought her an ice cream sundae.  BTW, Allie woke up asking for her birthday princess hat that we've had since she turned 3 and she wore it everywhere we went.  She told everyone "Today is my birthday and I'm going to be 7."

Allie took the time to read each of her cards.  She's my first child to do that.  Normally they rip off the paper and totally ignore the cards.

Dan and I bought Allie a Just Like You doll from American Girls.  She was so excited.  Baba and Grandpa got her an outfit so she could match "Sasha." (which is a nickname for Alexandra in Russia and what she was called in the baby home)

Allie's Birthday Camp-out

When I asked Allie if she'd rather have a big party with her school friends or do something with our family, she picked a family camping trip. That made me happy. We had planned on going the weekend after her birthday, but Easter weekend was scheduled to be so pretty. We couldn't pass up the opportunity. We packed everything Saturday morning and arrived at Cape Henlopen in Delaware right at check-in time. The campground was pretty empty and it was almost perfect. I say almost because the bathhouse we made reservations next to was closed for renovations so we had to use the one a little bit further away.

We only had 1 mishap while we were gone. I was eating marshmellows off the roasting fork the first night we were there. Allie decided to copy me, not realized I wasn't sticking the whole fork in my mouth. It still makes me cringe...I heard the sizzle as the hot fork touched her lips. She had two white blisters on her bottom lip where she burned herself. A little ice and a few days have made all the difference and it's almost healed up.

It took us an hour or so to set up camp and then we spent the rest of the time playing. Over the 3 days, we rode 5 miles on our bikes. The kids were real troopers, especially Caden. Cape Henlopen has great bike trails....a few hills, but for the most part, easy paved paths for younger children to ride on. Any time we were at the campsite, the kids were on their bikes riding around on the rode. They never get to do that at home so it was really nice to have the freedom.

You should see Caden's training wheels. They are worn down to the rims.

We also played on the beach one afternoon. It was cool, 70s maybe, with a nice breeze. We weren't prepared with sunscreen and we all got a little pink. We played frisbee and collected shells. Caden is getting very good at throwing and catching the frisbee. The kids dug in the sand and Allie took some time out for a nap. She's so funny. She worked on her towel until it was perfect and them settled down to sun bathe.

On our bike rides, we discovered Ft. Miles, which is a World War II era base. The building themselves were open, but not too interesting. The interesting part were the big artillery guns. Caden could have happily stayed there "shooting" at things all day long. We also climbed one of the many observation towers...all 115 steps. The view was beautiful. We saw several places were people had used pine cones and pine straw to draw pictures and spell out words so we joined in and spelled JACKD (which is how I sometimes sign our names quickly - the first letter of our first names).

As if all that wasn't enough, we also flew our kites in a big parade field, checked out the nature center and took a walk on the fishing pier. I wish we could have gotten to the 2 light houses across the bay.

(Blogger is driving me crazy. It won't let me center these pictures to match the rest...sorry!)

We packed up and came home Monday afternoon. We found a creamery on the way and stopped for home-made ice. It was the perfect weekend. Thank you, Allie for turning 7 and picking to spend the weekend with us!

Allie and Alex Are Over

Allie told me that Alex said he doesn't want to be her boyfriend anymore.  She didn't seem too upset.  I'd say they've drifted apart this school year : p.  She did tell me another little boy in her class told her he'd be her boyfriend.  Oh dear!  I'm sure with Allie's personality, there will never be a shortage of boyfriend material...unfortunately.

Brownie Fun

We had two Girl Scout cluster events this week.  The first was Basket Bingo.  I don't know that I've ever played real bingo other than in school here and there.  The girls and I had a good time.  Our instructions were to bring a snack for our troop and to bring our daubers.  I dipped strawberries and pretzels in chocolate.  They were a hit and they disappeared almost immediately.  For the daubers, I went to 4 different stores without success.  At least I knew what a dauber was.  A couple of the moms said they had to google "dauber."  LOL.  Thankfully, ladies had extras and were more than willing to share.  The bingo caller was fast and the room was over-filled with women and girls.  It was hard to hear with all the chatting, but we perservered.  Unfortunately, it wasn't our lucky night.  Neither the girls nor I won a game.  We came close, but no bingos. 

 

Jaelyn was there for the fun, but Allie was very serious, very competitive and very upset when we left without her winning anything.  (her medicine is working marvelously, but one side effect we've noticed is she gets more emotional when she's frustrated.)

 

Today, we went ice skating.  I went by myself with all three kids and hoped there would be other moms there skating to help if needed.  It's been a year since we skated.  Jaelyn did really well and skated part of the time without the walker.  Allie struggled with her walker.  She kept falling.  I had a big walker I was using to push Caden and finally, I made them take turns.  I'd push Allie for 2 laps while Caden sat out and then I'd push Caden for 2 laps while Allie sat out.  About an hour into skating, Allie went to the bathroom and didn't come back.  When I went to find her, she had turned in her skates and was putting her shoes back on.  I knew she couldn't sit for an hour and watch everyone skate, so the rest of us got our shoes and headed home.  It was a fun outing and best of all, the girls got another patch for the back of the vests.  Yippee...more sewing for me!  (read that last sentence with sarcasm, please.)