Salado

Today we drove up to Salado to meet my mom for lunch, play at the park (now one of my favorite parks ever), and swap kids. A couple weeks ago, Abby went up for her very own "Abby week" with Mattie and Grandaddy, and now it's Carson's turn to have his week. The kids spent the afternoon playing in the water and we all managed to keep cool, despite the ridiculous heat. It was a fun day! I'm loving the fact that visiting with my parents no longer requires a 34 hour R.T. drive and a week of vacation!

* Note: Abby took the picture of Carson and I. She's loving taking pictures lately!

"Hand!"

Carson has always been our little cuddlebug. He loves being held, hugged, kissed, and cuddled. He likes to be close. For the longest time, when he wanted to be held, he'd say, "Uppy!" (Translated: Pick me up, please!) Well, we're working on forcing him out of that bit by bit (it's just not convenient to carry a 3 year old around everywhere!), so lately he's taken to something new. It warms my heart when he runs up behind me and reaches out his little hand and says, "Mommy! Hand!" We walk through parking lots, stores, and off to bed this way, and it's not lost on me how precious these days are - the days where he's so small and sweet and affectionate and wanting to be near all the time. I'm doing my best to soak them in and capture and remember them... what a blessing.

Slumber Party

For weeks (if not longer), Abby has been begging to have her best friend Lilah over to spend the night. Tonight we're finally making it happen. Lilah is spending the night here and Carson is having a "Collin night" over at the Phelps' house. Let the good times roll.

I tune into the conversation a little while ago to hear Lilah say, "Peter Pan is just so cute. I'm in love with him."

"Oh yeah? I'm in love with Derek," says Abby.

"You're still in love with him?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'm in love with Peter."

Since then, however, Lilah's passion for Peter has faded and she has fallen for her old flame, Max, and she and Abby are talking it over over a tea party.

This is the ultimate girls' night.

Night Sky

We were outside this evening and I noticed how amazing the night sky was. Then I happened to notice bats flying all around (although I wasn't able to get a picture!). I guess that's not surprising since we live not far from "Bat Cave Road" but I never noticed them around here before. Gorgeous night!

Dirty Risotto and Flank Steak

I was inspired last week by a dish I saw on an episode of Chopped. It was flank steak served on top of a risotto. It looked yummy. I've never made risotto, but I searched and searched and finally found what looked like a good recipe in one of my cookbooks, Giada's Family Dinners. Tonight Aaron and I spent the evening cooking together in the kitchen and put together (if I can say so myself) a delicious dinner that we will be eating again.

Flank Steak (marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, worsteshire sauce, garlic, onion, and red wine vinegar)
Grilled Asparagus
Dirty Risotto (adapted from Giada's version)

3 1/2 c. chicken broth
2 T. unsalted butter
2 oz. pancetta (I may have put more!) :)
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
3/4 c. chopped red bell pepper
3 oz. button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 c. arborio rice
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt

Bring broth to simmer in medium saucepan. Cover broth and keep hot over low heat.

In large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add pancetta and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms, and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add wine and simmer until wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy. Remove from the heat. Stir in parmesan cheese and salt. Transfer to serving bowl and serve immediately.

Need New Recipes

I'm getting ready to go grocery shopping and need some new recipes to add to my menu. I'd love to hear some of your favorite recipes!

Sleepy

Aaron and I are getting ready to go to bed and (since they love him so much more than me -- I'll blog about that later) it's his job to go wake the kids up and get them to go potty. So tonight as he's doing this, I'm sitting here listening to how it's all going down (it's usually quite amusing), and I'm cracking up because I hear ...

"Carson, why are you wearing a sweater?" He claims he was cold, but I know that really, he's just been itching to wear wintery clothes. Abby wore a raincoat around most of the day yesterday (why not?), and he was so jealous.

I also heard Aaron guiding Abby, "Sweetie, you can't go potty in the closet. Let's go in the bathroom."

Kids do funny things when they're not really awake.