Play time with Ben

When David and I picked up Ben from school on Friday, Ben exclaimed how hungry he was. I remember being a kid and always being starving when Mom picked us up from school. Our snacks would be Taco Bell soft tacos, a Dairy Queen blizzard, or a McDonald's apple pie. For this little guy though, since it was almost 5pm, we decided to go ahead and have dinner at the Buckhead Pizza across the street before heading to see Tangled at a nearby movie theater. We even had a little popcorn during the movie. What the hey, its Friday! When we got to the apartment in Atlanta, Ben had fun running and jumping on the bed over and over and over. Then, with bath time complete, he put himself to bed and fell asleep immediately.
On Saturday, we hit Fernbank bright and early. This was a nice thing to do indoors since the weather was still a bit yucky. Lunch at the Varsity was great, and then we headed to the Zoo. We took our time and looked at every single animal on exhibit, every reptile, rode the carousel, climbed the rock wall, and played on the playground. By mid-afternoon, the little guy was tuckered out! As the Zoo was beginning to close, we headed to Pet Smart to take up a little more time. Ben played with the kitties there and picked out a new toy for Sandy. A trip to Kroger hooked us up with a fresh box of Fruit Roll-Ups. Score! No sooner had Ben finished his roll-up, that the eyelids started to droop. We were in panic mode! It was only 5:30 - he couldn't take a nap or he'd be up all night! We were trying to keep him awake while we found a place for dinner. Some crayons and paper at Twist occupied the little guy for a bit longer. Amy and Chris randomly joined us, and we had a nice time catching up with them. When the tired 5 year old crept along the edge of a total melt-down, we headed back to Gainesville to put him to bed. He didn't fight us one bit, and slept until almost 9 on Sunday. We had breakfast, hung out in our pj's, and worked on his Valentine's day box. After lunch and a little movie time, Amanda came to pick him up and they were heading to Chucky Cheese. David and I were tired ourselves, but we had the best time playing with Ben, wrestling with Ben, and getting to spend some quality time with our favorite nephew. Sorry for all of the pictures, but he's so cute, I had to share them all!

I asked Ben to write his name, and he says "You want me to write it perfectly?" I said "Of course." His penmanship is awesome!

When we got to the apartment, it was immediately time for jumping on the bed. He barely stays still!

Saturday morning breakfast - fuel for the day ahead!

Waiting for Fernbank to open....

We took pictures in every face cut-out available! His face is just so cute in those round cut-outs!

In the Sensing Nature exhibit we played with bubbles, lightning...

...the color prism wall...

....that Ben said was his favorite part of the museum.

In front of the two huge dinosaur skeletons in the atrium at Fernbank.

Getting ready to watch our IMAX movie...Animalopolis.

My favorite 5 year old!

Ben and his Day-da at the fountain outside.

It turned into such a beautiful afternoon, so after lunch at the Varsity, we hit Zoo Atlanta. The pink flamingos welcomed us inside!

The elephant was out and about...

.....the parakeets chirping...

...and the lions were roaring!

Ben loves the Kimodo dragons. Maggie, however, is terrified! Fortunately, I knew this bronze statue wouldn't come crawlin' after me!

We got to see the baby pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang. They were adorable!

This little guy kept saying "According to the map, we should go left here to get to the crocodiles." He's a better map ready than me!

We got to see the hogs and goats at the petting zoo!

And the cute sheep too!



Ben is so great around other kids, and quickly made friends with the other children on the playground. He was stoked to ride the see-saw.



And I was tickled to join him on the carousel. I {think} I rode a seal and Ben, a cheetah.

Mr. Fearless was brave enough to try climbing the rock wall for the first time!

He did great! And rang that bell proudly once he reached the top!

Ben got a new stuffed animal at the gift shop...a cute little white furry think he named Ty Ty.

We were goofy in the photo booth too.

Reward of the day: a giant fruit roll-up!

On Sunday morning, Ben and Aunt Maggie worked on his Valentine box to take to school. Ben had fun coloring on it - drawing hearts, writing his name, and drawing "maps". I am pretty sure that Aunt Maggie was super stoked about craft time though. I love any excuse to get out my rendering markers from college, some ribbon and craft paper. I even added beads to the box with my trusty hot glue gun...woopsie! Maggie, take note: The box is for Ben. The box is for Ben. The box is for Ben.

This look is the "I want to negotiate something" look. Here, we worked out a deal to take a bath, get squeaky clean, get dressed and then we'd eat lunch and watch Transformers.

Bright lights, big city

Tomorrow afternoon, David and I are picking up our favorite munchkin - Ben - from school for a weekend with his Aunt Maggie and Uncle Day-da in the A-T-L! Part of Ben's Christmas gift from us included a weekend in the Big City. We have so many fun things planned! IMAX, Fernbank, Zoo Atlanta, The Varsity, and more! Tomorrow night is movie night...we are deciding on either Narnia or Tangled. We may let the midget decide.  We are so super pumped...so watch for pics from the weekend in the next few days!

More Veggies in the New Year

Like many of you I'm sure, we've all have broad declarations of "I'm going to be healthier in 2011!" over the past month. I'm happy to say, David and I are off to a pretty decent start. I cook almost every night.....basic stuff like steamed vegetables, a salad, and David will grill whichever meat or fish we're having. I try to plan meals at the beginning of the week when we know just which nights we are going to be at home. Sometimes, we'll sneak in a Breakfast-for-dinner supper too. :) I mostly use my Gena Knox Gourmet Made Simple cookbook and my Weight Watchers cookbook. But, when we have company or a weekend meal, Ina Garten never fails me and neither does Martha's Original Classics tome. Here are some of our favorites so far in 2011! Here's to happy, healthy eating!

We like to use chicken tenders on the grill sometimes instead of the traditional chicken breast. They don't take as long to cook, and they are very tender. Here, I prepared a sauteed zucchini and red bell pepper dish with the delicious asparagus.

Asparagus via Jamie Oliver:
This is a great combination. Parmesan, olive oil and lemon are wonderful with asparagus. Heat a large griddle pan and dry-griddle the asparagus spears on both sides until nicely marked. As soon as they're ready, put them on to four plates and dress with a good squeeze of lemon juice and three times as much olive oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then take a block of Parmesan to the table and either grate or shave some over the asparagus with a peeler.

On this night, we prepared a panko crusted fish, Brussels sprouts and sauteed spinach. It was all tasty!

Brussels sprouts via Rachel Ray:
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 shallot, chopped
1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed, small spouts left whole, larger spouts halved
Salt and pepper, to your taste
1 cup chicken broth

Brown bacon in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Add extra-virgin olive oil to the pan, 1 turn. Add shallots to the pan and saute 1 to 2 minutes. Add Brussels spouts and coat in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook Brussels sprouts 2 to 3 minutes to begin to soften, then add broth. Bring broth to a bubble, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook 10 minutes, until tender. Transfer sprouts to a serving dish with a slotted spoon and top with cooked bacon bits.

Sauteed Spinach via Maggie:
5 to 6 tablespoons golden or dark raisins
2 packages (each 10 ounces) fresh spinach or 2 medium-size bunches fresh spinach, tough stems discarded
3 to 4 tablespoons fragrant extra-virgin olive oil
6 to 8 whole small peeled garlic cloves, lightly smashed
5 tablespoons pine nuts
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper

Place the raisins in a small bowl, add very hot water to cover, and soak until plump, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels, then set aside.
Rinse but do not drain the spinach. Place the spinach in a large saucepan over medium heat and cover the pan. Cook the spinach until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring a few times. Transfer the spinach to a colander, and squeeze out the excess moisture by pressing on the spinach with the back of a spoon. Chop the spinach coarsely. (The spinach can be prepared a few hours ahead up to this point.)
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok over low heat. Add the garlic, pine nuts, and soaked raisins, and cook until the nuts and the garlic are light golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the chopped spinach, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring to combine evenly. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to a serving bowl, and serve.


And for this past Monday Night Girl's Dinner, we dined at Lauren and Renee's apartment in Atlanta. Lauren made this amazing coconut soup with rice and beans, roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, Hollie brought a salad, and I made Roasted Vegetable Crostini via Weight Watchers. I love using my WW cookbook for easy, quick, healthy recipes. It uses a ton of healthy proteins and vegetables and makes use of many spices.

1 small eggplant (about 3/4 pound)
1 medium zucchini
1 medium red onion
2 medium red bell pepper
2 plum tomatoes, seeded
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 loaf french bread, whole wheat
Grated reggiano cheese to taste in the vegetable mix, and a bit for garnish

1.Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray nonstick baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2.Trim ends from eggplant and zucchini; discard. Cut all vegetables into 1/4-inch pieces; place in large bowl. Add garlic, oil, rosemary and black pepper; toss to coat evenly. Transfer to ungreased nonstick 15X10X1-inch jelly-roll pan.
3.Bake 45 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 15 minutes.
4.Trim and discard ends from bread. Cut bread into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake 3 minutes on each side or until crisp and lightly browned on both sides.
5.Spoon vegetable mixture evenly onto toasted bread slices; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Continue baking 5 minutes or until mixture is heated through and cheese is melted. Transfer to serving plates.

Ben, The Birthday Boy!

Last night, David and I joined Amanda, David Rigg, Pammy, Pop, Mandy, Todd, Logan and Luke at Stars and Strikes in Cumming to celebrate our Ben's 5th birthday! The kids played arcade games and we all joined in for Laser Tag. Of course, we sang Happy Birthday to Ben with a pound cake made by Pammy and opened presents before diving into the pizza. Here are two of my favorite pictures of my favorite little person...and some snaps from his big night!

One of my favorite Ben pictures!

And this one too!

the funny Valentine's tent at the bowling alley

with red pleather chairs to boot!

Ben enjoyed playing the Arctic Blast game...

...air hockey with Dayda...

... and showing just how many fingers he gets to hold up when people ask how old he is!

It was like Christmas morning with all of these presents!

I've never seen anyone open presents faster than Ben! He blew through them all! Nerf guns, Wii games, Nintendo DSI games, board games, toys for the car, a new DVD player, and books. He's going on a special Disney Cruise with Pammy and Pop in May, so he got a scrapbook ready to place his pictures in from Pammy!

This is an action shot of Ben tearing into the Nerf gun that we got him!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Ben, Happy Birthday to you!

Make a wish!!!!

We couldn't resist the photo booth!

Homeward Bound

"You pushed me this far, now I'm pushing you the rest of the way. You know, back in the woods, even when things looked really bad, I always thought we'd make it because I thought you were too stubborn to quit. Well, you're not going to quit, not now, not when we're this close." Chance from Homeward Bound

David and I came home from the New Year's holiday with Baxter in tow, anxious to see our kitty Sandy. My sister-in-law had been by several times to check in on her and give her attention. Sandy, like most cats, is super self-sufficient....she doesn't use a litter box, but goes outside like Baxter taught her; she uses his doggie door just like him; and when her food is out, she likes to eat his. Sometimes when we would come home from a trip she'd be out playing in the woods and show up within a few hours. When she didn't come up from the basement right away on that Sunday, Jan. 2nd, we just started taking down our Christmas decorations. It was getting late, and she still hadn't turned up. Monday morning, still no Sandy and we were moving from optimism to worry. Then, we started looking for her. I handed out 50 fliers...mailboxes, neighbors, the vet; I called every vet in town; David visited the Humane Society 3 times; and we walked and walked up and down our neighborhood streets calling Sandy over and over. Baxter knew that we were sad and joined in on the search for Sandy. We were encouraging him to bark and howl in hopes that she would hear him and it would lead her home. After a week, we knew that snow was on the way. Waking up to 6 inches of snow was fun, but only further instilled the worry about where our little kitty was. When the snow melted, we resigned ourselves to accept Sandy may not come back to her home, and we prayed that someone else was looking out for her and giving her what she needed.

This past Thursday morning at 4:30am, a little cry woke up both David and me. We rushed downstairs and started calling Sandy....but nothing turned up. I just thought maybe it was a bird, and tried to go back to sleep even though my heart was pounding with hope that it was her! When our alarms went off to wake us for work later that morning, David got up to shower and get the coffee started. I was having trouble putting my feet down on our cold floors and getting out of our warm bed. As David was making coffee, he heard a little cry again. He opened the basement door and there was our little Sandy, sitting at the top of our basement steps just like she had always done! He scooped her up and brought her to me - all I could ask was "Is this a dream?" Then shock turned to happiness and on came the tears. I cant imagine what being parents will be like because all we could do was love on her and talk to her like a human...all we could ask was "Sandy, where have you been?!?!?" After 3 weeks, our little Sandy came home to us. Baxter was literally leaping into the air with happiness. It has been a joyful past 48 hours, and we know that she is as happy to be home as we are to have her here with us again. She was a little thinner than when she left, but looked so pretty - no injuries or anything. We are so thankful that our prayers, the prayers of our friends, and prayers from our family guided Sandy back to us!

Sandy is our little miracle rescue kitty and maybe if she could tell us about her time before coming to live with us, she'd say something like this: " You see, this family came along, and I guess you can say they rescued me, because they adopted me and brought me to live at their house.  Lots of space, fresh air, plenty interesting things to explore, and all the food I could eat. " (Chance from Homeward Bound)