Friday and Sunshine.

So we knew we'd be busy with kiddos, working full-time, working on degrees, taking/teaching classes, but we are both SO ready for summertime and a little break to enjoy the smiling faces of our precious kiddos.

We hope to do LOTS more of this...

 

Happy Friday!  Hope the sun is shining were you are, too!

p.s. although we're not ready to say that we're back in full-swing blogging, we hope to be back a little more frequently :)

Dear Lady at the Grocery Store.

Dear Lady at the Grocery Store,
Thank You. Thank you for saving me in one of those incredibly awkward 'momma' moments. The kind where you want to do what's best for your baby girl, but not seem like a psycho momma. Thank you for telling the little boy who swooped upon my sleepy baby in the cart that we "don't touch, just look with your eyes". Thank you for noticing the trepidation on my face as I noticed his dirty hands getting closer to my sweet girl's cheeks an eyes and helping to stop him. Thank you for acknowledging the fact that I didn't want to make for an awkward situation because his grandma want watching him and certainly wasn't watching Liza. And lastly, thank you for not making a big deal out of it. I hope one day I can be a tactful, trendy, and all-knowing momma like you are.
Sincerely,
A thankful momma

Dear Baby Girl (9)

Dear Liza,
You were a rockstar when you slept for 7.5 hours straight last night!  Even though you were wide-awake at 4:47AM, I didn't mind because your sweet smiles are awesome.  But I have to tell you that when you cry as I walk out the door to head to work it makes my heart break a little.  I love that you know your momma and you don't like it when I go (a feeling I'm sure I'll wish for when you're a teenager and I'm so not cool anymore), but it sure does make it hard to walk out the door.  Anyway kiddo, hang in there for 2 more work days.  Then we get to play in sunny Florida for a week.  Your dad and I can't wait to show you sandy beaches and an ocean of salt water (though I'm pretty sure you'll like our unsalted Burt Lake water better)! 
Love,
Your Momma

p.s. we've been slacking on our 40 posts in 40 days...but hopefully we can make up for that soon when that whole Masters/Doctorate thing slows down.

Snowshoe Sunday (8)

Doesn't it look like Candy Land with white icing??

Yesterday JW and I had a change to get outside and enjoy the lovely foot of snow that blanketed Northern Michigan late Friday night and early Saturday morning.  It was gorgeous and it was nice to have some time to spend together (Liza hung at Grandma and Grandpa's since it was pretty chilly out). 

Tunnel of Trees...

My mom wrote this earlier that day when they had hiked the same trail!

Naan naan naan naan (7)

Yesterday was glorious: a snow day for me and a bonus day for Liza and I. My baby girl is growing up and seems to be doing something new everyday. It's amazing. She's also seemed to kick her cold and was smiley, chatty, and giggling a lot of the day. It made going back to work tough today. The countdown is on to spring break...30 days till Florida. Anyyyyyyway, I wanted to share with you a quick dinner that we frequently fix during the week.

But first let me tell you that weeknight dinners at our houses would be skittles and ice cream if we didn't plan ahead. Ok maybe not skittles, but there's always room for ice cream. In order to keep ourselves healthy and prevent being avid supporters of local takeout, we rely on a meal plan and meal prep on the weekends.

Since I was home yesterday and had time, I threw a frozen bag of chicken in the crockpot with a jar of spicy cherry BBQ sauce and a cup of water. The plan was to make shredded BBQ chicken and freeze it. However, the house smelled too good not to have it for dinner and therefore we pushed our stirfry back a night. I didn't want BBQ chicken sandwiches though.

Thankfully I had picked up some naan at the grocery store earlier in the day. If you haven't tried naan, you should soon...and with butter...and on the grill in the summertime! I digress. Anyway, we've discovered that naan makes a great, quick pizza crust.

Therefore, we made this quick pizza of BBQ chicken, red peppers, bacon and mozzarella cheese. We baked it at 400 for about 5 minutes and had dinner. Anybody else have a great, quick izza recipe out there?