The Living Planet Aquarium

AKA - Who is this child and what did he do with my sweet boy?

This past Saturday we spent a total of one hour at the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City.  At $9.00 per person, I think they made some extra money off of us.  The reason is twofold.  One I'm sure you can infer from my AKA comment above.  The other was the fact that the aquarium was super small.  We went through the whole thing, and wondered where the rest of it was.  So we went through the whole thing again.  Yes, we went through the whole aquarium twice in one hour.

Normally, even with the small size it would have taken much longer.  I like to read all the literature, and actually find all the fish they say are in each tank.  On this excursion, Brennan had other ideas.  I think his limit was about 6.3 seconds at each display and then off to the next one.  If Jason and I did not comply, the shrieking, kicking, and flailing ensued.  It was just one of those days, and nothing Jason or I did calmed the wild beast, so out to the car we went.  We took our unopened picnic lunch and headed back home.  Brennan has definitely started the "terrible twos."  At least we got out of the house for awhile, even if the drive took most of the time.  We'll try something else this weekend and hope it goes better.  If not, start praying for us.  We're going to Indiana in a couple weeks by plane.  I already feel sorry for the people who booked the same flights as us.

Here are some pictures of our grand adventure.


Cute from a distance, but notice the crazy eyes.



Kissing the fish.  He's such a boy.



Checking out the tiny jellyfish.



He looks calm, right?  Yep, looks can be decieving. :)



More fishy kisses.



Trying to jump into the pool with the sting rays.



Part of our 2 minutes at the kiddy play area.


I don't think those fish will ever be the same.

Busted!

I think the face says it all.  Guilty!

New Month, New Haircut

Just wanted to share my new haircut.  It was time for a change!

I Can't Believe It's Already Thursday!

I have no idea where this week has gone.  It's not like we've run tons of errands or had huge projects to work on all week.  It's just been a typical few days, so I guess that's a good thing.

Unfortunately, it's snowing again today.   We've gotten used to playing outside everyday, so this is a real bummer.  Especially since Brennan's energy level seems to be on the extra high setting these days, and not going outside makes him not a happy little boy.  We're still doing good with our no TV watching, but today I think I might have to break out some Elmo.  Either that or I'll be running the Roomba quite a bit.  I don't know what it is with Brennan and vacuums, but there is a definite obsession.  He wants to "keen the for" all the time.  How young can OCD start?

I took a few random pictures of our week so far. 


I finally started putting together a collage wall in the stairwell.  I plan on going all the way up, but I have to get some more frames and some more photos printed.  I think it looks pretty good so far.  This is the view from our front door.  


This is the tree in our front yard.  It's so pretty with it's white blooms.  I really want to get outside and takes some up close pictures of it's flowers, but you see that white stuff on the ground.  That's hail.  Oh, and flowers that the hail knocked out of the tree.  So for now, I'll just take pictures from inside the door and hope there are some flowers left on the tree when the weather gets better.  Oh, and Jason would want me to point out the grass in our yard, compared to the neighbor's yard. Jason's a real "Grass Man," so that is definitely a point of pride at our house.





And last but not least, here's one of the little man.  This was taken last night as I was making supper.  I keep his art supplies in a cabinet where he can reach them any time he wants.  Most of the time that works out wonderfully.  If he gets the urge to color, he runs in and gets the box of crayons and a piece of paper or a coloring book and goes to town.  At other times, it's not so good, and turns into something like this.  I guess he was just looking for the perfect piece.  Thankfully, Daddy was nice enough to pick up all the paper when he got home from work.

Speaking of Jason, congratulations are in order!  Jason was awarded the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Quarter award yesterday!  Great Job, Honey! 

And  that's all folks!  The excitement for today?  I will probably work on my quilt, and do the typical house cleaning and laundry thing.  We're having Swiss Chicken for supper tonight, so if I think about it later, maybe I'll post that recipe if I haven't already.  The cold, snowy weather has me thinking there's probably a couple Mocha Lattes in my future....and if Brennan has his way, lots of vacuuming.

A Friday Post About Nothing Much

I don't really have anything to say about anything in particular, just a few random things from our week, but I do have a picture of Brennan, so that makes it a proper post, right?

We'll start with the picture.

- Brennan's been in heaven most of the week, because we've been able to play outside!  We even wore short-sleeved shirts yesterday with no jackets. It got up to 70! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the snow is done, and spring has finally started.

- Brennan and I have gone a week now without watching any TV during the day. It started because I was tired of Brennan screaming to watch Yo Gabba Gabba or Elmo every 15 minutes. I turned it off and listened to that round of screaming, and we really haven't missed it since.

- We do watch TV after Jason gets home from work. The other day we watched the 90s movie Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones. Remember, it's about the volcano under Los Angeles, and Jones' character is Emergency Management for the city (which is what Jason does for the Air Force), and he spends the movie fighting lava, making barriers out of fire trucks, and blowing up streets and buildings. Yeah, pretty far out there. That's been our joke of the week when something doesn't turn out right. "It's because you didn't blow up the building and divert the lava. What were you thinking!"

- Speaking of natural disasters, there was an 5.0 earthquake in Utah last night. It was centered in Randolph, which looks to be about 2 hours from here. It happened around 6:00, and it was felt south of Salt Lake City. We didn't feel it here, but that doesn't surprise me. Jason was a couple houses down helping a friend fix his car, and Brennan and I were reading books. You'd think that would be a still activity and we would have felt the shaking, but Brennan is like an erthquake and never sits still. Yep, doesn't surprise me at all. Let's just hope that's all for the earth moving around here.

- My quilt project is coming along. I've made it my goal to finish 4 diamonds a week. I have one more to finish this week, and then I'm up to 16! Only 70ish more to go.

Well, I think that's about all of the randomness for now. Hopefully, everyone has a wonderful weekend. Aside from the typical Walmart and commissary runs, we're planning on working in the yard, and maybe going for a drive.

...That is, as long as Jason's not out blowing up buildings and diverting lava!

-

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles

1 lb. chicken breast, chopped
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 carrot shredded
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup light italian salad dressing
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
8 oz cooked angel hair pasta
peanuts



Directions
1. Coat chicken with 1/2 cup italian dressing. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Whisk remaining italian dressing with peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, ginger and red pepper until smooth, set aside.
3. Saute onions, garlic, carrots, and chicken in sesame oil until chicken is done. Add sauce to the chicken and cook until heated through.
4. Toss chicken mixture with pasta and sprinkle with peanuts.

This is especially good as leftovers the next day!

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

This is the newest favorite Sunday morning breakfast food around here.  Jason's not a big pancake eater, and he even went back for seconds!  Brennan loves everything with blueberries or strawberries, so he's not too hard to please. 

Brennan loves to help Mommy cook.  In this case it made for some puried blueberries, but the pancakes still tasted great!


Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1-1/3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl combine egg, buttermilk, and oil. Add to flour mixture all at once. Stir mixture just until blended but still lumpy. Fold in blueberries.
2. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto a hot greased griddle or skillet. Cook until pancakes are golden brown, turning to cook second side when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and slightly dry edges.
3. Add lots of butter, syrup or powdered sugar and enjoy!

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Bringing in Some Spring

The weather this week has been great...
...for polar bears.

Actually, yesterday wasn't so bad. It got up to 60 and it was sunny, and Brennan and I were able to play outside for a couple of hours. Prior to that, however, it snowed 8", hailed, and was just downright cold. There is definitely a case of Spring fever going on in the Bal household. It didn't help that I ran across a slideshow the other day of beautiful flowers and trees that are blooming and budding right now. Around here, not so much. Well, besides an occasional daffodil in somebody's landscaping, and, of course, the garden department at Walmart.

With that mentality, (and the fact that everything looked so bare when I took down the Easter decorations) I went to work bringing some faux Spring into the house.

One of my favorite signs of Spring back in Indiana are when the dogwoods bloom. I'm not sure if dogwood trees grow in Utah, but in our house they do. The paper variety, anyway.

I just folded up some plain white copy paper, cut a scallop, punched the end with a hole punch, dabbed on some green and brown paint, and tada, paper dogwood flower.


I think they turned out pretty well.  Oh, and check out my cool moss rocks from the Dollar Tree.  We have the mother of all Dollar Trees right down the street.  Gotta love that!



After I made up several dozen flowers, I glued them to the branches leftover from our Easter tree.


I also scattered some over the mantel and on shelves and bookcases throughout the house.

If you're wondering where the mantel came from, it was the solution to the empty wall I talked about back in February. I got the mantel itself pretty cheap on eBay, and then Jason and I built the base. In it's future it will have added embelishments and a nice paint job. (Right now it's only primed.) I'm also on the lookout for a fireplace screen and a big mirror.  The mirror that's hanging right now is stolen from our bedroom. :)

Maybe I'll have all that done by the time the "real" Spring arrives.

Wordless Wednesday - Quilting Buddy

A Lemony Fresh Easter

We colored Easter eggs on Saturday. It was Brennan's first time coloring eggs, and let's just say he got into it, literally. By the time we were finished, both of his hands were a nice martian color green. And thank goodness egg dye is non-toxic! Brennan thought the coloring wands were bubble blowers, so they were up to his mouth more than they were in the egg cups. I didn't have any vinegar to add to the dye tablets, so I used lemon juice. I guess he thought we made him a bunch of really colorful lemonade.


Before the Mess!



Let the fun begin!



Wow!



He was trying so hard to get some bubbles.



He's a pro now. Showin' Daddy how it's done.



Two-fisted egg coloring.



Almosted finished. Brennan decided it was easier to use his hands.



Martian fingers. (Thank goodness they washed up with some Dawn.)


Oh, and if you can tell, Brennan fell earlier in the day and busted his mouth on the coffee table. The day before Easter, of course.



Easter Morning...with a mouth full of candy. He was definitely full of energy the rest of the day.

We had a good Easter. We hid eggs inside several times. It would have been nice to go outside but it was too cold and windy.

On the other hand, I guess hunting Easter eggs in the snow would have been a cinch!

Thrifty Thursday - Fleur-de-lis Plaque Before and After

As I am clearing out our excess stuff, I am finding all kinds of things I can repurpose. One of these things is this garden plaque.



Instead of sending it off to the Savers store, I decided to give it a makeover.



A few coats of acrylic paint, a hand painted fleur-de-lis, and the year Jason and I got married, and ta da, cool new art for the living room!

The Great Quilt Project 2010 (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014...)

It's been on my mind for quite a long time that I might possibly want to make a quilt. A long time as in years. But you know me, I've always got one project or another going on, so the quilt idea has always remained on the back burner.

Until now.

It started like this:
In my quest to Simplify, I have been cleaning and clearing out a lot of excess stuff. A lot of our excess stuff is an over abundance of clothes belonging to the adults in the house. (And yes, Jason is just as much of a clothes hoarder as I am.)

Also on the back burner of my mind is finding new bedding for Brennan for when we convert his room to a "Big Boy Room." I am always drawn to the quilt sets that I find in my Pottery Barn Kids and Land of Nod catalogs every month, but the color schemes are never just right. So as I am looking at this pile of nice button up shirts that are getting ready to be donated to the Savers store, the light bulb went off. I can cut these shirts up and make them into a quilt. A neat heirloom quilt made of Daddy's shirts, that Mommy can make in the exact colors and pattern that she wants! How wonderful!

Well, those that know me also know I can't just jump into a project with no plan or direction, so of course I had to go online and do some research on quilting. What I do know of quilting came from my grandma, and that information was passed on a long time ago and pretty fuzzy.

In my search I found plenty of free quilt patterns and tutorials on backing and binding. I found tips and tricks and suggestions, and rotary cutters, and binding tools, and cutting mats and quilting baskets. Wow, I had no idea there was so much "gear" for quilters!

Then I ran across a website about a quilt called Grandmother's Flower Garden and my "simple full sized block quilt for Brennan" project evolved into an "elaborate extra humongous queen sized quilt and two shams for Jason and me" project.

That was on Sunday, and all my free time since then has been consumed with cutting out paper hexagons, tacking fabric to the paper hexagons, and piecing together tacked hexagons. When I am sleeping I am dreaming about hexagons. At this point I'm not sure if this is going to be the great crafty accomplishment of my life, or if I should just be committed right now for even trying. I'll get back to you on that in a few weeks!

Oh, and Brennan will still be getting his quilt. I'll probably start on it in the next couple of weekends. I plan on doing most of it on the sewing machine since it will be all straight lines. And besides, since The Great Quilt Project probably won't be complete until 2025 or so, I will definitely have to work on other things in between.

Here's the beginning of the insanity. The very first piece to my hexagon quilt.



And here's how far I am now. I have two diamonds done. Well, almost done, there will be a white border around all the diamonds, I just haven't been to the store to buy any fabric yet. Thankfully, I have a fabric stash to work from here at home.


Two diamonds done, only 85 more to go!

85!!!! Seriously!

Yes, seriously.

60/365 ~ A Chalky Good Time

58/365 ~ A Happy Homecoming

56/365 ~ Blueberry Muffins

57/365 ~ I've Been Painting

55/365 ~ Coloring on the Fridge

Happy Birthday Papaw!

Happy 63rd "Just Another Day!"



We heard you were taking Nana fishing on your big day. We hope you both have a great time.



Love you and Miss you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day Everyone!





We're wearing our green today, and have a yummy St. Patty's Day meal planned for tonight! I'll probably dig out the green food coloring so Jason can have a green beer when he gets home tonight in the special mug we keep in the freezer all year just for this day.



Brennan and I went to the commissary this morning, and all the ladies gave him plenty of attention in his festive greens. He walked out with quite a few strands of green beads.

Look out, we've definitely got a Ladies Man on our hands!

54/365 ~ Green Welcome

53/365 ~ Lines of Light

52/365 ~ Play Time

51/365 ~ Big Wheels

50/365 ~ The Two Cake

49/365 ~ Eggs in a Bowl

48/365 ~ The Two Shirt

47/365 ~ The Two Shirt in Progress

46/365 ~ Boiling Point

45/365 ~ Valentine Breakfast

44/365 ~ Explore

43/365 ~ Incognito

42/365 ~ New Plant

41/365 ~ Mmm...Yogurt is Good!

Yee Haw!

It's not a riding lawn mower, you say?  Doesn't make any difference to the Little Man, he thinks it's the coolest thing ever!  Giddyup, Lawnmower!

Gingersnaps

I'm not a big fan of store bought cookies (Well, besides an occasional Oreo.) and really don't want Brennan eating all the chemicals and preservatives that are in them, so I started to make them myself.  I usually make a batch about every week or so. 

This week's cookie of choice:

Gingersnaps

Ingredients:
3/4 c. butter
2/3 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
Enough white sugar to roll the cookies in

Mix butter, egg, brown sugar, and molasses.  Add dry ingredients until well blended.  Form dough into balls and roll in the white sugar.
Bake 8-10 mins. @ 375 degrees on lightly greased cookie sheets.

Crispy Peanut Butter Chicken

Crispy Peanut Butter Chicken

1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/3 c. milk
4 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. canola oil

Mix together egg, peanut butter, salt and pepper. Gradually add milk, beating with a fork to blend. Dip chicken in egg mixture; then add in crumbs. Place in oiled baking pan. Sprinkle remaining canola oil over chicken pieces. Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender.