Beets Me!

Bears.  Beets.  Battlestar Galactica.

So, I bought beets.  Dave and I are trying to eat more veggies, or as I like to call it "part-time vegetarians" now.  This basically means we still eat meat (while out and about), but I haven't purchased it at the grocery store or cooked it in about 6 weeks.  I pretty much wanted to try something new, but I didn't expect such a passionate response!

I liked most of the tips, but let's be real y'all, "borscht" doesn't seem like a real word.

I decided to go with a basic roast a la http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beets-and-Greens/Detail.aspx.  I added goat cheese crumbles to my portion because hello, goat cheese makes everything better.  They had to share the oven with some rosemary potatoes, so I picked a recipe with a similar temperature.  Normal cooking people know how to adapt to things like this, but I can't really make anything beyond beginner adjustments.  I timed dinner pretty well, until I realized "Holy jeez, it's been an hour, and I can't push the fork easily through the beets!"

Not that it needs mentioning, but I am not a crazy lady about getting dinner on the table at a certain time, except for that I sometimes am.  Yesterday in particular, I wanted to make sure things were ready on time because Dave was planning on eating quickly so he could change the oil in the car before he lost daylight.  So handy.

Then began my personal ghetto beet-making methods.  I pulled the not-yet-done roasted beets out of the oven, threw them in a pyrex with a little water, and stuck them in the microwave for five minutes.  Then I got back on track with the original recipe.  Whew!  That feels good to get off my chest.  I am not really worried that anyone has lost respect for my culinary artistry, because nobody should have had any admiration for my cooking skillz to begin with!  (Yea, the "z" was on purpose).

If you know me, you know that I don't like to get my hands dirty.  I used tongs and managed to avoid much staining. 

The verdict?  They were good, but I'm too lazy to make it a regular thing.

P.S. I have seen every episode of Battlestar Galactica, and if you haven't, then you SHOULD.

Cruisin' in My Swagger Wagon

I mentioned on facebook that I am officially a minivan lady now.  We caved and bought a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country this past weekend.

 (It pretty much just looks like a van).

A lot of you people with 2+ kids have gone through the thought process we did.  You know, something like this:

 

"I'm just more of an SUV person."

 

"I'm not ready to cave and be a soccer mom yet!"

 

"I would really prefer a V8."

 

"How will I feel driving to happy hour/high school reunion/go on a date in a van?!"

 

But, we couldn't get around this fact: for many reasons, the minivan is the perfect vehicle for our family right now.  [And I can drive something really cool when I'm a young empty nester, right?]  There was a small part of me that actually thought that I was having to swallow my pride a little bit to buy a minivan.  But guess what, Katy?  There are people with real stuff going on in their lives.  There are people who are ill, people who can't find a job, and people on the brink of losing their homes.  Any pride I had was misplaced.  The fact that Dave and I were able to earn money, save money, and purchase a minivan is only a testament of God's provision for our family.  Take that, Katy's pride!  Thank you, Lord, for blessings like this one.

 

Now if you need me, I'll be in the van watching a dvd and hiding from the kids.

 



So, what have we been up to?

Anniversary-ing.  (Isn't this what everyone's anniversary dinner looks like??)

 Kissing.

 Pooping/Reading.

 Hugging.

 Shooting.

 Playing.

Aging and celebrating.
(What's that?  You don't like the pink shoes I bought for myself?  Join the club known as my family.)

 Finger painting.

 Wagoning.

 

(Making up my own words.  What of it?)

 

Oh, WAIT, there's more.  A little bit of crawling.

 And finally, some dancing.

 

 

{three}

Happy anniversary, Love!

P.S. My lack of computer skills is pretty evident from this video... It's the thought that counts though, right?

Christmas "Birth Stories"

Hey, all.  I probably linked to this post last year, but it is a favorite of mine.  Maybe it's just that I have had a new baby the last two Christmases.  Maybe it's that God is showing me more and more how good He is. 

Enjoy, and be blessed!

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2009/12/birth-stories.html

Merry Christmas!

Myla's 2nd Birthday Party

     I am so not the awesome party-throwing mom.  I kept going back and forth on whether to have a big family party for Myla since her birthday is smack-dab between Christmas and Thanksgiving (i.e. we already have big gatherings, and it's just a busy season).
     My brilliant mom informed me, "Katy, her birthday is going to be on December 8th every year."  Oh, right.  Deal with it.
     We threw around a couple of ideas and ended up with the perfect little low-key event: a trip to the park and some presents/grub at Kris and Al's house.  I felt a little twinge of mama guilt when we walked in and Kristen had put up cute Minnie Mouse decorations everywhere!  Myles loved it.  Naturally, I stole all these photos from PawPaw.

 Piper, riding in style.

 Aunt Kristen was recruited for some team sliding.

 I guess it was more tiring than she remembered. :)

 Myla has never seen the world from quite this high.

 Sitting up is hard!

 A brief moment of sharing the birthday girl's chair...

 The menu included the birthday girl's favorite things: Mac-n-cheese and bread.

 She now wants to blow out every candle everywhere.

I would say she had a good time, and she's pretty obsessed with that Minnie Mouse chair.  See?

The Guardian

Someone around here watches the baby even more closely than I do...