Birthday & Exciting News

Yesterday we celebrated Daddy's 35th birthday!! (He's getting so old!!)
...OK, I'll be the same age in a few months.

I made Rouladen, and Spaetzle for dinner, and it was so so good.  The kiddos loved wishing Daddy happy birthday over and over.  It was a simple family night, complete with a movie and raspberry custard before bedtime.

Happy Birthday Daddy, we love you so so much!!



and our exciting news...

We booked our trip/flights to Hawaii!!!
7 days/6 nights on the big island. 

Our first big trip since we got married.  Even our honeymoon was local (granted we did get married a few days before Christmas)

We are so so excited!!

This is where we are staying...

I'm not sure what I'm looking more forward to..
 
  special time with just my hubby
  exploring the beautiful island
  sleeping in
  laying on the beach
  snorkeling
 
..oh the list just goes on and on.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

I love spring, I love flowers, and fresh fruit. 
My favorite fruit of the season..strawberries

I recently stocked up on lots and lots of strawberries..and besides popping them in my mouth like candy, and making strawberry freezer jam, I wanted to start baking, and cooking with them.

And then this wonderful recipe was posted by two of my favorite recipe girls over at Our Best Bites.

I'm having this for lunch today..I can hardly wait.

photo from ourbestbites.com

Click here for the recipe, it's so so easy!!

What's your favorite recipe with fresh strawberries?

Productive and Lazy

This last week flew by like a blurr.

Daniel celebrated his eleventh birthday on Tuesday, with presents and Red Robin with the family for dinner.  On that very same night we also had a Pack Meeting for scouts where Daniel earned his Arrow of Light.  I made a cute cupcake cake in the shape of the badge.

Wednesday and Thursday were full of errands, and mystery shops, and loads of laundry, lots of them.

Friday, was date night.  Our favoritest babysitter ever came over, bearing a present for Daniel, and Natalie even got a hug out of him within the first few minutes.  The kiddos (and Dave and I included) will be so sad to not have him as their "date night" playmate, as he leaves in a few weeks for his mission to Brazil. 

Dave and I tried Dim Sum for dinner, and it was so so good.  Loved the soup dumplings, spicy beans, and shrimp, and the egg tarts were delish as well.  I can't wait to try more!! My favorite part..we were so full, and dinner for the two of us was under thirty bucks.

Saturday morning we started out so productive clearing our driveway from the three million pine needles covering it, using a borrowed pressure washer.  Pine needles, too hard to sweep or rake..pressure washer = perfect for the job!! I did some weeding in the front, and after cleaning up outside and then ourselves we took a much needed break.

The Museum of Flight was our next destination.  The kiddos loved being inside Air Force 0ne (OK, it's the original one from the 60's) and my kiddos had no clue what the typewriter or rotary phone was..too funny. 

After our visit, and a few souvenirs we came home to finish our Saturday, in a perfectly lazy way..jammies, and movies.  (I think after church tomorrow my jammies will be begging for me yet again at three in the afternoon)

Daddy's Home

My hubby is finally home, after a week long work trip in Germany. I'm super excited that he got to go, because that is where he served his two year mission for our church before we were married. 

But, two weeks prior he was in Tokyo, Japan for a week long trip as well. 

Needless to say the crazy differences in time, and being so so far away, make it a little hard to stay in constant communication. 

The kiddos would do something crazy or silly, or I would have something insane happen to me, and I'd get my phone out, only to realize it was 1am in Germany and he was probably sleeping..boo. 

I didn't realize how much we talk throughout the day. 

We do a lot.

We instant message each other if I'm at the computer, but we mostly talk on the phone, even if it's just a short 5 minute " I had the craziest thing happen and just had to tell you" conversation. 

I'm just really glad to have my best friend home, and the kiddos are bouncing of the walls with glee and happiness.  It also could be from all the german goodies he brought home...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This morning my kindergartner and I finished his leprechaun trap for school, and all my boys were decked out in green for this fun silly day.  If I can find a green swimsuit for little miss then we're set. (since that's all she wants to wear nowadays)

Happy St. Patty's Day Everyone!!

Directions for..
rainbow cupcakes
clever clover pretzels

Science Project

As a fifth grade tradition, Daniel put together his first science project, and display board this year. 

His teacher spaced everything out, so that we weren't hit over the head with everything at once. We first came up with a lofty idea involving propellors and energy, but then came back to reality, and realized that may be more of a middle school project than elementary school project.

His question..Which starch will produce the most electricity (voltage)?

We used five different starches..red potato, sweet potato, yam, russet potato, and yukon gold potato.

We then used a piece of copper, a glavanized screw, and a voltage meter to read the voltage of each starch.  The winner..the Yukon Gold Potato.

Maybe next year we can go a step further and produce our very own potato clock..

Daniel was very proud of his work, and of his project.  We're pretty proud too!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

I came across these cookies last week, while perusing blogs.  I was so intent on making them, that when I finally looked for the post that had them, I couldn't find it.  So then I did a search, and found tons of variations on this famous recipe from Better Homes & Gardens.

I love the combination of Chocolate and Peanut Butter, and the kiddos had so much fun rolling the peanut butter balls inside of the chocolate balls. The turned out great, and were a huge hit...so if you're craving chocolate and peanut butter open up your pantry and make these yummy cookies!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Peanut Butter Filling:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons course sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda; set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the dry ingredients as you can with mixer. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Set aside.

3. For peanut butter filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter until completely smooth. Shape mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.

4. On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.

5. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

6. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until they're just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool.

Museum of Flight

Last week the little ones and I met up with some friends at the Museum of Flight.  It's just down the road a bit, located next to the Boeing airstrip. 

Natalie and Caleb loved all the planes, and I loved the display of flight attendant uniforms through the years.  Retro is probably my favorite, but I had to share these..



Caleb and his buddy were completely into the NASA flight simulator, and little miss loved playing pilot in all of the planes. 



There is so much to do and see here.  I can't wait to bring the older boys and Dave (who especially loves planes) to come and explore on our next visit.

February Snow

In the last few days of February we got a fun treat, as we were surrounded by pretty snowflakes falling from the sky, and covering the ground with white. 

Our last real snowfall was back in November and the kiddos have been antsy for more ever since.  It started snowing Wednesday morning, and we found ourselves cuddled on the couch in our front room staring out the window at the falling snow.  Later that afternoon the kiddos suited up in winter gear and played to the hearts content.  Even our dog Bailey got in on the fun.





The snow seemed to make everything more peaceful, and the nights were so quiet, and almost breathtaking.  I also loved how bright everything was covered in snow.  We got a few more snowfalls into Saturday evening, and then the rain came and started to wash away our winter treat.  The bonus of living in Seattle..all the fun of snow for a few days, and no need to shovel!!