Happenings

There's a whole lot of busy going on in this house. I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but, guess who learned to walk. Sweet P is on the move all the time and has gained SO much confidence and independence. It's crazy how fast little ones learn things. Just crazy!



She was showing off her skills at the lake this weekend and sniffed out my sandwich and decided to help herself.







Oh, and to answer some questions about The Roadhouse, it's the same restaurant that used to be at Monkey Island - just new owners and new management. As far as I know the menu is similar but there are some changes and I wouldn't know what those are. The chef is the same and I believe the bartender is the same. If you go you'll probably see some familiar faces and some new ones too.

And how about a little more randomness to finish this off? Sweet P's birthday is coming up fast! I can't believe she's already 11 months old. Where did the time go? Someone please tell me. Anyway, I'm typically not too crafty but every now and then I decide to do a little project. This month's project is Sweet P's birthday party. I don't have much to say about it yet, but, I'm really excited.



More to come as my crafty streak continues.

Homegrown Tomatoes

It's that time of year when we eat tomatoes every night with dinner and I love it. There's nothing like a homegrown tomato. They are so juicy and full of flavor - unlike the kind you find at the store.

Growing up, I was spoiled by my grandpa because he always had plenty of tomatoes to share from his garden. Now I'm older and my husband is spoiling me with our own.



They are so red, juicy and sweet. Even Sweet P likes them!

She was my little helper yesterday while I was picking tomatoes. As fast as I could get them in the bowl, she had them back out and in the grass. At one point I looked over and she had taken a big bite out of one and juice was running down her chin.

It was hot so I finished gathering all the tomatoes and took her inside to let her finish off her find.

She was a mess. The floor was a mess.



I didn't mind. She had her first homegrown tomato and LOVED it.



Her great-grandpa will be so proud.

The Roadhouse

This past weekend my little family of three headed up to Grand Lake to visit a long time friend's new restaurant and stay at his parent's lake house. It was dreamy. I'll probably post better pictures of our relaxing weekend later but for now you get ones from my point and shoot. My sister stupidly graciously lent me her backup camera and it died this weekend so my pictures are stuck on it until I can get the charger from her.

Anyway, if you're out near Grand and want some really good food, check out The Roadhouse. It's near Monkey Island.



Eric and I sampled a little bit of everything but our favorites were the smoked salmon dip, coconut shrimp, grilled quail and steak. The coconut shrimp came with a cranberry compote and they were my favorite thing I ate all weekend.



If you go, tell Justin hi for me. He and his brother are the new owners and are doing an awesome job!!

And, I will leave you with our view all weekend.

CrazyJoy = Mysterious (revealed)

I'm going to make this short because we were at the lake all weekend and I'm exhausted.

Anna announced on Friday that our CrazyJoy challenge word was Mysterious so check out her post to see how we interpreted it. For now, a peek of mine...



I think mine needed a little explanation, so here goes. While we were motoring around the lake we saw this strange thing sticking out of the water next to a dock. As we got closer we realized is was the mast, don't know if that's actually what the thing is called, but the big long pole that you run a sail up on a sailboat. That's all that was sticking out of the water, the sailboat had completely sunk.

How did it sink? What's going on in the boat underwater now? Were fish making their homes in it now in the deep, dark water? So mysterious.

CrazyJoy...

Hello and happy Friday!!!

It's time for another CrazyJoy challenge. To get the new word for next week, head on over to Anna's blog.

And while you're there, check out our favorite entry from last week.

And thanks again to everyone that joined in with us and thanks, Marie for sharing your cuties!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Fishing and Food

I feel like I've been talking about those two things a lot lately. But, it's summer and it's a great time for both!

This past weekend we tried out a new restaurant downtown. The okra was delicious and the jalapeno poppers - they fry them. Oh yes, they were good. (What, was I not supposed to eat that?)



Did you check out P's hair? The girl has some serious body!
 
We also took the boat out.

She's quite a talker and pointer these days. Here she's directing daddy as he gets things ready for the water.



Later, he showed her what a noodle fish is.



And another shot of the hair.



I also tried getting some pictures of her in her room - she had a lot to say.



Now, who's ready for Friday!?

Lemon-Basil Shrimp with Veggies

One of my favorite things about summer are all the garden fresh veggies. We typically plant zucchini and squash but didn't get around to it this year. Sadness. But, it's okay because we have plenty of onions, tomatoes, herbs and garlic. So, what do you do with your vegetables after you harvest them?

Here's a super easy and pretty healthy recipe I came up with that uses a lot of summer veggies. If you don't love to chop, slice and dice things, this recipe isn't for you. Fortunately, I LOVE cutting up stuff when I cook. Call me crazy but it's kind of relaxing!

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:
4 cloves of garlic - minced
1 small white or yellow onion - diced
2 zucchini - sliced into little strips
2 yellow squash - sliced into little strips
1 yellow pepper - diced
1 tomato - diced
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 a lemon - zest (save a little for garnish) and juice
5 fresh basil leaves - sliced (save a little for garnish)
whole wheat spaghetti
1 lb. large shrimp - peeled and deveined
a couple handfuls of feta cheese crumbles

Boil some water in a pot and cook the spaghetti.

Meanwhile, in a tall walled skillet, heat 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until tender (not brown). Add the zucchini, squash and yellow pepper and cook for about 6 minutes - stirring occasionally. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes.



Then add the artichokes, lemon juice and zest, tomatoes and basil and cook for another couple of minutes until everything is heated through.



Put the pasta into bowls and spoon the shrimp and veggies over it. Top with a little feta cheese, fresh basil and lemon zest and enjoy.



I love how light and summery tasting this meal was, not too mention healthy and colorful!

Another Insanity Update

Well, today is my goal date for my Insanity challenge. I wish I could say I completed my goal of working out every weekday, but I've been slacking. I'm averaging 4 days a week, which isn't BAD, but it's not what I had planned. So, I decided to extend my plan another month.

I am NOT a morning person but I have actually enjoyed being up early before the other two wake up. It's like my only me time in the day and it's so peaceful (after I catch my breath and recover from those stupid insanity videos). It surprised me to learn that I actually liked getting up early. Plus, I feel like I have so much more time in the day. So, I may not work out every weekday, but I'm actually enjoying the torture so far.

Along with working out, we have been eating pretty "healthy" around here - not counting the weekends :) Here's some of the stuff I guess I consider healthy:

Poached egg on toast


Ham and veggie sandwich with veggie salad - I actually eat this almost every day for lunch.


And grilled portobello sandwich with baked zucchini fries - those fries are so good! Thanks for posting that Anna.


I love how bright and colorful healthy food is!

Oh, and I haven't had a donut since I started this challenge! But I have had cake, ice cream and oreos.

CrazyJoy = Comparison (revealed)

Happy Monday! We had such a fun weekend celebrating the husband's first Father's Day. It was filled with food, fishing and lots of love.

Some how in the mix of all that I was supposed to find something that represented our CrazyJoy challenge word from Friday, COMPARISON.

Sunday afternoon I was sitting with my girl on the boat and looked down at our feet. Right now she has such tiny, chubby little feet and I love smooching all over them. But, one day, they'll be bigger, maybe even bigger than mine and I doubt I'll want to smooch them.

So here's my take on the word. Comparing my feet with hers.



Here's Anna's. Check out her post for the story.

Did you do the challenge with us? If so, link up and we'll pick a favorite and announce it on Friday with the new word over on Anna's blog.

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CrazyJoy = Comparison

Happy Friday everyone!!! Time to announce our new word for week 5 of the CrazyJoy challenge!



You know what to do:

1. Think on it, photograph it, draw it, make it, whatever you want to do to represent the word
2. Come back Monday and I will post my and Anna's photo and you can link up through Thursday with your interpretation
3. Then check out Anna's blog on Friday where she will post our favorite entry and the new challenge word

And here's our favorite entry for last week's word : forbidden. Thanks, Four in the City!! Absolutely hilarious and great picture!



Check out her post to see what those tears are about.

Thanks again to everyone that participated! We are having so much fun and hope you are too.

Now go off and have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday!

Embrace the Camera - Boat Fun

Today's embrace the camera picture is from our first trip with P to the lake on the boat.



We're such goobers.

But I guess that's the point.

Taste of Summer

If you were to ask me what summer tasted like, it would be this:



Grilled meat and sweet corn. Not to mention cucumber salad, made with sweet, homegrown onions.

Oh, and a drink that went with it? Iced cold strawberry limeade!!!



I adapted the Compadres Skinny Margarita and used soda water instead of the alcohol! Before you shake it up, add a couple of chopped strawberries to the glass then serve in mason jars.

Hoping your summer is filled with lots of grilled food and fresh limeades!

P's First Trip on the Boat

I hope you all enjoyed my sister's post yesterday and learned a bit about my husband. Some of those comments cracked me up. So while we're on that subject, Eric took a co-worker fishing noodling with him over he weekend so me and the little miss tagged along. She's been fishing with us several times but this was her first trip on the boat.

She wasn't too impressed with her life jacket but I thought she looked adorable in it.



She tired of watching the boys trying to find a fish and decided to explore. It was a little difficult in that jacket but she managed.



I also made sure to bring plenty of snacks for the both of us. Look at those healthy snacks, carrots and hummus, sliced apple and almonds. Sheesh.



As if my snacks weren't enough, she saw an open bag of Doritos Eric's friend brought and helped herself to her first taste of nacho cheesey goodness.



I also brought along plenty of her favorite toys to keep her entertained when we were stopped. Yes, plastic measuring cups that she adores...I see a little cook in the making!



I tried to get her to wear her fishing hat but that didn't last long.



She also tried out her new little floating thing...and LOVED it.



She was such a great sport and didn't fuss a bit. I think she was made for the lake, even if it's to watch Daddy noodle.



Looks like we'll be making many more trips to the lake with our little one!!

Some Thoughts

He does WHAT?

That's crazy.

Why would he do that?

He could get his arm broken.

He could get pulled under water and drown.

Doesn't it hurt?

What about snakes?

I thought he was smarter than that.

You're kidding, right?

Can you make him stop? (personal favorite)

These are just some of the things I hear when people find out my husband noodles.



If you don't know what I'm talking about or want to know why he does it, check out my sister's blog for the interview and photos!

And here's a recipe for all that fish!!

CrazyJoy = Forbidden (revealed)

Hello Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous around here so we took Sweet P for her first boat adventure on the lake. More on that this week.

But for now, it's time to see what we came up with for the CrazyJoy challenge over the weekend. Friday, Anna announced that FORBIDDEN was the new word. Here's a peek at my photo.



Probably not what you thought I would do and it's not what I had planned but we were at the lake and I thought it was quite fitting. So check out Anna's blog for the full photo, to see her awesome take on the word (it's my favorite shot so far!) and to link up so you can show off your fabulous interpretations!

CrazyJoy...

Hello and happy Friday!!!

To get the new CrazyJoy challenge word for next week, head on over to Anna's blog. I am so excited for this one. I think it will be the easiest for me so far. Hmmm, I wonder if you're thinking what I'm thinking. We'll see next Monday when she posts the photos.

And while you're there, check out our favorite entry from last week, here's a peek. Thanks, Marie!

Thank you to everyone who joined us this week!! It's been so fun for us to see the different takes you guys come up with!

Embrace the Camera - Summer

So far this summer, we have been embracing the water.

In the yard with the sprinkler...




At splash parks...




And in our new little pool...



Ahhhh, summma-time. You are good.

And I'm linking up with Emily for Embrace the Camera. You get a windblown, sweaty me and not-to-sure-about-things P.