Home Improvements with Bob Villa

My dad has been in town this week helping us with major home improvements. He is amazing!!!! He gutted the kitchen and installed all new cabinets for us. It is beautiful!. Once everything is done, I will post some before and after shots. Here are some 'in action' photos!

October Fun!

This past weekend we joined Bethany Lane Baptist Church (Jon's father's church) on a hayride and bonfire. It is always wonderful to be with family and an added bonus to be with the Smith church family. Here are a few pics with Carson and and Papa and Nana.

Carson Quotes

A few new funnies from Carson over the past few days:







I was putting a pair of jeans on him the other day (since the weather finally feels like the fall). He said to me, 'No mama, I wand the short ones.' I asked him to show me what he meant. He pulled out a pair of shorts out of the drawer and said, 'Dese mama, dese short ones.'

The other day Carson burped. He then said, 'Scuse me mama, i tutted oud of my mouth.'

I asked Carson if he wanted to go to the park. He said, 'yes mama, leds do it...dust two minutes mama, dust two minutes..leds do it.'

recipe

this is not a new recipe, but one that i have been craving...so i thought...why not post it?

Pasta Carbonara Florentine

½ tea salt
1 (6oz) pkg prewashed fresh spinach
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup, finely chopped onion
2 T dry white wine
8 oz cooked spaghetti
½ cup grated parm cheese
½ tea pepper
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 T fresh chopped parsley

1- Cook spinach and ¼ tea salt in pan over med heat. Cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, stir constantly. Remove from pan, set in bowl.

2- Add bacon to pan, cook 3 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserve 2 tea of drippings. Add onion to drippings and cook 2 min. Stirring frequently. Add wine, cook 1 minute or until reduced. Remove from pan, keep warm.

3- Cook pasta according to directions, drain, keeping 1 T liquid. Immediately add pasta and the reserved cooking liquid to the onion mixture in skillet. Add spinach and bacon, stir well. Place over low heat.

4- Combine ¼ tea salt. Cheese, pepper, egg and egg white, stir with whisk. Add to pasta, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, sprinkle with parsley.

We love Mimmi

My mom, also known as Mimmi was in town this past week. She stayed in Northern Virginia visiting with friends, but we were able to see her each day that she was here. Carson loved being with her. I told him a few days ahead of time that she was coming and when i went to get him out of his room in the morning, the first thing he said was, 'is Mimmi here, mama?' we enjoyed all the time that we had with her, but i would have to say that the most meaningful part of her trip was the gift which she gave to me. She handed down to me her traditional Finish costume. I am honored that she entrusted it to me and am even more excited for the opportunity to wear it at the upcoming Annual Finish Bazaar in November. Thank you Mimmi!

Mimmi, i never tried the outfit on for you while you were here...so here is a picture! Love you!

fun filled Saturday afternoon

We had a fun Saturday today...hanging out at the park with the Lees this morning and attending KJ's third birthday party this afternoon.

Little Lauren Lee swinging




Jet Lee



Miss Catlyn Lee



Carson going down the slide



The only two pics I got of the birthday boy and Carson together!





Carson REALLY enjoying the cupcake!

Carson Quotes

A few new funnies from Carson over the past few days:







I was putting a pair of jeans on him the other day (since the weather finally feels like the fall). He said to me, 'No mama, I wand the short ones.' I asked him to show me what he meant. He pulled out a pair of shorts out of the drawer and said, 'Dese mama, dese short ones.'

The other day Carson burped. He then said, 'Scuse me mama, i tutted oud of my mouth.'

I asked Carson if he wanted to go to the park. He said, 'yes mama, leds do it...dust two minutes mama, dust two minutes..leds do it.'

Carson's First Field Trip

Friends graciously invited Carson and I to attend their school field trip today to the National Trolley Museum, knowing how much Carson LOVES trains. He lost his interest in the 'presentation' of how Trolley cars have evolved over the years (good indicator that he is NOt in school yet), but LOVED the trolley ride! Most of my pictures of are Carson and Riley (since he loves her dearly and spent all of his time with her)!

new lens

my camera has been broken for a while hence no new pics. i just got a new lens in today (which solved the problem). i have not had time to play with it other than a few pics of carson playing tonight!

night-night time

we were on our way out the door today to go watch Jon play football. I asked Carson to go get the 'cars' that he wanted to take with him. he quickly ran upstairs to his room. A few minutes passed and he had not yet returned. I began to walk up the stairs and heard him singing. I proceeded to open his bedroom door where I saw six of his cars lined up in his rocking chair. He was 'rubbing' their backs and singing the Gospel song. When he saw me he said, 'Shhhh...mamma...night...night time.' He then proceeded to shut the door on me saying, 'bye, bye mama!'

one last trip

We took one last trip to the beach this past weekend. I guess we now have to officially acknowledge that Fall has begun and our summer days are over. Our time away was wonderful. We were once again reminded of how richly the Lord has blessed us AGAIN and AGAIN this past year. Driving to Ocean City in a car given to us, staying in a beach house of family friends (for free), getting surfing lessons from dear friends who live in the area and even given our very own surf board. We are so undeserving and He is so good!

quotes of the past few days

I had just finished getting dressed to attend a wedding. Carson walked up to me, began rubbing my dress and with a huge smile on his face said, 'soooo nice mama, oh yes, soooo nice.'

There was a lull in conversation at the breakfast table yesterday. Carson leaned over towards me and with a smirk on his face said, 'hey dude, whats up?' i burst out laughing, wondering what else Jon is teaching him!!!!

Tagged!

Now that I am back on-line, I have realized that I have been 'Tagged.' What is being 'Tagged' you ask. It is a simple as these four steps:

The Rules:
1. Let others know who tagged you (Megan Russell)
2. Start with 4 recipes you especially like
3. Tag 4 other people and notify them that they have been tagged :
Esther, Heather, Helen, Janet.
4. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 4 recipes.

ROASTED AUTUMN VEGETABLES

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
1 pound shallots (about 24), peeled and trimmed
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish, if desired

In a bowl toss together the potatoes, quartered, the shallots, 4 tablespoons of the oil, the bay leaf, the dried thyme, the garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste. Spread the vegetables in an oiled large roasting pan and roast them in the middle of a preheated 375 degree F oven, shaking the pan every 5 to 10 minutes, for 25 minutes.

In a bowl toss the squash with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and salt and pepper to taste and add it to the pan. Roast the vegetables, shaking the pan occasionally, for 10 to 20 minutes more, or until they are tender. Discard the bay leaf and garnish the vegetables with the thyme sprigs.

GRILLED SIRLOIN STEAKS WITH BLUE CHEESE-BUTTER
(who says grilling is only for the summer months?)

6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about 1 1/3 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, finely crumbled

6 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 1 1/2-to 1 3/4-pound top sirloin steaks (1 inch thick)

Combine cheese, butter, parsley and 3/4 teaspoon rosemary in medium bowl. Stir to blend well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer blue cheese butter to small bowl. (Blue cheese butter can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring butter to room temperature before using.)

Combine 1 tablespoon rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper in processor. Blend until mixture resembles coarse paste. Pat steaks dry. Place in large baking dish. Rub 2 teaspoons of garlic paste on each side of each steak. Cover and let stand 1 hour at room temperature.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill steaks to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to platter and let stand 5 minutes. Cut each steak into 3 equal portions. Top each portion with a spoonful of blue cheese butter and serve.

BLACK BEAN CHICKEN CHILI

3 chicken breasts, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chili powder
5 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ T olive oil
1 tea cumin
½ tea coriander
2 cans black beans
2 cans Mexican diced tomatoes

Saute chicken and veggies in olive oil. Add spices and cook 3 minutes. Add beans, canned tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil. Simmer 15 minutes uncovered, stirring often. Add cheese and cook until melted.

Serve with sour cream, grated cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD TRIFLE

2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.

we are here, i promise!!!!

we have been out of touch the past couple of weeks... our Internet connection has been down for about a month. so, what have we been up to lately? hanging on to every last bit of summer that we can! as much as i love the fall (fall recipes, cool weather, changing colors, hot chocolate with tons of mini marshmallows), i have not wanted the summer to end. we have enjoyed every day at the pool, walks around the neighborhood..the care free schedule that the summer offers. we spent the past weekend at ocean city surfing (well, attempting too!) and plan to go one more time this month. i have decided that i will officially let fall begin in october!

unfortunately, i don't have any pics to show of our last few weeks. my camera is broken and i have yet to get it fixed. since i don't have pictures to show...i will try to explain. carson is growing more and more into a little boy each and every day. his vocabulary continues to increase (as well as his personality). one thing that i have LOVED is his new found love for snuggling! since he has been born, carson has never really liked to he held close, snuggled, or anything that any new mom dreams about! now, out of no where, he asks to snuggle all the time! 'mama, snuggle couch wid sarson?' it is great!

it is hard to remember everything that he has said over the last month, but here are a few funnies (that i can remember from the past few days):

'mama, i go'ng get maqueen downdairs. i be right back. dust two minutes...dust two minutes.'

drinking his milk, 'mama, i like dis. oh, yes, i like dis milk.'

i am in the kitchen cleaning up...'i see jesus!' 'what?' i ask. 'i see jesus, i want to wadch jesus!' carson had gotten into the bin of DVDs where we have 'The Miracle Maker,' a video about Jesus. once i realized what he was looking at i laughed!

Lord willing, some new pictures will follow soon!

surfs up!

we have been on vacation at my parents house for the past week. i hope to post soon with more pictures and more details about our time away. i had to take the time to post a few pics of our little suffer boy. jon rented a board and the whole family has had SO much fun learning how to surf. carson has been too adorable trying to copy everything that he sees mama and dada do! see for yourself below:

We Love Nana!

we have had the privilege of doing a lot with nana (jon's mom) these past two weeks. carson adores his nana and has loved all the time that we have been able to spend with her (me too)! she took carson and i to a petting farm last week. there were baby goats running free all over the place. carson got to ride a horse and of course, his favorite animal had to be the big smelly pig!

jon, nana, carson and i went to the new National Space Museum near Dulles Airport today. it is amazing! carson wanted to ride every plane that we saw and had a hard time understanding why he could not...but he did enjoy the virtual ride with dada and the model airplane nana bought him at the gift shop.

thank you SO much nana for all the time you have invested in us these past two weeks. we love you much!









Carson even loves wearing nana's shoes!!