i love packages!!!

i came home last week to this big package on my front porch.  usually any package at our house is some car parts for andy, so when i saw that it was for me, i was so excited...and then when i realized it was the giveaway win from misha lulu i was even more excited. 

inside was fabric and a bunch of little individually wrapped goods...yippee!!  this is the best way to receive a gift.  it is so much fun to open each individual gift.

all of the buttons, trims and fabric were so beautiful, and to top it off she also sent some cute misha lulu clothes for ella!!  ella wanted to try them on as soon as she got home from school.  i will have to take a couple of pictures of her in her new duds.  

such a generous giveaway!! 

thank you, thank you, thank you again misha lulu!!

Weekend :: Palomar Mountains

 so while I was busy working all weekend, these guys set out for a big adventure with daddy to do some camping and fishing with some friends.  some mamas might get a little nervous with this situation, but not me.   andy keeps a better eye on these two than i do...seriously.  even without any phone reception i knew i didn't have anything to worry about.

and from the looks of it they had a pretty good time...one little fish was even caught by jack the fisherman.  thanks for taking pictures for me...

the best little helpers...

these guys love having our little garden.  they can't wait for our tomatoes to turn red and ripe for the picking and neither can i.  they sure do love pulling an onion for me when i need one.  best of all they love to water...everything, including each other.  when is that warm weather going to come back around?

Easy New Table Topper

 I love the look of all those glass container planters you see everywhere so much and I knew if I searched hard enough around the house I would be able to make one of my own.

 I found a glass vase that hardly ever gets any use and I had the kids collect some gravel from our gravel path in our backyard.  The gravel helps the soil stay well drained so the plants won't get root rot...plus it looks pretty with the different layers.

 Next we bought a couple of the smallest succulents.

Lastly we borrowed a little bit of soil from one of our garden beds, planted the plants and we were done.  Oh, we did add a couple of smooth stones on top after this picture was taken.  I think I am going to be on the lookout for more glass containers.  It was so quick and easy.  After we made it, I realized I could have just clipped some pieces of succulents from the ones we have in our yard...next time.

Straw Craft

 So what to do on a rainy day?  Oh, I know a little indoor kid's craft.  Turns out this craft is for a little bit older kids so I pretty much ended up doing most of it.  Julian picked out the colors and I cut and tied them together.  We cut the straw in thirds and tied them into a bunch of triangles and arranged them in different shapes.

 Going 3D was a little tricky.

 When Ella got home she made her own craft by joining the straw pieces together with silly putty to make a really long straw.

They had some fun so I guess we were successful.  We will have to revisit this one when they are a little older.  

Have a good weekend!

Embrace the Camera :: Pool Party

 This is how we embraced the camera in El Salvador.

Your turn!
Today embrace the camera is being hosted by Buggie and Jellybean because Emily from the Anderson Crew is battling morning sickness.  Ugh!
Hope you feel better soon Emily!

El Salvador

 Here are a couple more pictures from our trip.  The last week we went to El Salvador.  We had a perfect view of the surf right from our hotel.  Andy was on it everyday.  I only surfed a couple of days because the swell was pretty big everyday.

 The kids took full advantage of the pool and swam everyday until their fingers were like prunes.  Ella learned how to swim all the way across the pool all by herself.  By the end of the trip she was a little pro.

 Julian was a little fish also.

 We had a yummy breakfast every morning.

 We did a little sight seeing and visited the Mayan ruins...

spent an afternoon at Coatepeque Lake, which was a beautiful crater lake from a volcano...

and went to one of the Mayan pyramids.

Swiss Chard Recipe :: YUM!!

It's wet and cold today.  Ella still has a hard time going to school in the morning on some days.  Taking bunny with her helps.

See!  

She looked so cute decked out with her rain coat, umbrella and bunny I just had to take these pictures.

So now we can move on to a super yummy recipe.  When I planted my little garden I picked up Swiss Chard partly because the leaves are so pretty but also because I wanted to try new things.  Now my Swiss Chard is growing like crazy and needs to be used. 

I looked up a couple of recipes and kind of adapted my own super simple one from several different ones.

Wilted Chard

*Wash 7 -10 large Swiss Chard leaves thoroughly and do not dry.

*Coarsely Chop

*Season with salt to taste and toss with a little drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet.

*Cook stirring constantly over medium heat until wilted, about 5 minutes.

*In a small bowl whisk about 2-3 Tb olive oil,  2 Tb lemon juice and ground black pepper to taste.

*Toss Swiss Chard with lemon dressing and serve warm.

YUM!!!

If you have never tried Swiss Chard before give it a try and let me know what you think.